On the evening of January 7, 2024, a fire broke out in certain sections of the Dome Market located in the Greater Accra Region.
At 9:30 p.m., the devastating incident destroyed a minimum of fifty (50) shops.
As reported by citinewsroom.com, Alex Nartey, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana National Fire Service, stated that an ongoing investigation is being conducted to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Despite the market’s crowded conditions, the fire was successfully extinguished by the authorities.
“There was a lot of obstruction. Lack of accessibility was a big challenge for our work. Our appliance couldn’t even get through where the actual fire was. We had to park somewhere quite far from the fire scene and then drag our hoses all the way through to the fire scene, so it was quite a challenge for us. But from 9:30 to 3:30, we were able to extinguish the fire to prevent any casualties,” he added.
Alex Nartey revealed, “As it stands now, we recorded 50 losses with the shops and other stores that were there, but we were able to salvage items worth over $500 from being affected by the fire.”
He emphasised the need for the government and authorities in the Dome and its environs to ensure there is a fire station for faster response during outbreaks.
“This is a call to the assemblies there to prioritize fire safety because the unfortunate thing is that there is not a single fire station in this area; Dome and Taifa area.
If the assembly or the government had set up a fire station there and we had taken personnel there and appliances, I’m sure our response would have been shorter to avert this kind of loss.”
