Coconut Grove didn’t have smoke detectors – Fire Service

The Ghana National Fire Service has said blame for the Saturday fire at Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra should be directed at the management of Group Nduom.

The offices of GN Bank, Gold Coast Securities, Amansan TV and Business Television Africa were all affected by the  fire  at the hotel, which the fire service said could have been avoided if some basic fire prevention systems were in place.

Speaking to Citi News, the Deputy Public Relations Director of the Fire Service, Prince Billy Anaglatey stressed that, “there was nothing put in place to protect the place in terms of fire safety.”

The Fire Service has concluded preliminary investigations into the fire and Mr. Anaglatey noted that “they do not even have smoke detectors on their premises. That was how they didn't detect the fire in time… even the structure itself is supposed to have total suppression systems, sprinklers, but they did not have all that.”

Prince Billy Anaglatey
“If they were to have those facilities installed within the premises, I think we would not have been talking about these fires now. These facilities would have automatically extinguished the fire at the time that the fire had started but there was nothing.”

Nduom’s comments
The assertion from the fire service come after the President of Groupe Nduom, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom suggested that more urgency on the part of relevant state institutions could have lessened the damage caused by the fire.

In a Facebook post , Dr. Nduom urged the need for reforms to influence a change in attitude of these state institutions in the face of similar disasters.

Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, President of Groupe Nduom
It took  personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service and the Fire Department of the Ghana Air Force more than three hours to contain the fire which started around 4.30pm on Saturday.

Per the investigations so far, the cause of the fire has been narrowed to the TV station where the fires started from an electrical component.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana