A fierce midnight fire ripped through portions of the Dansoman Market shortly after 12 a.m., prompting an intense, multi-front battle by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to stop the flames from engulfing adjoining structures, including the nearby fire station.
Assistant Regional Fire Officer Rashid Kwame Nissau, who spoke from the scene, said the Service received a distress call at 00:02.
According to him, the first appliance was dispatched from the station located directly behind the market, taking only two minutes to arrive.
“When they got here, already the fire had gotten to a mature state,” he explained.
“They called for assistance. As it stands now, we have eight fire engines. We’ve managed to confine the fire as we speak.”
He said the update had already been relayed to Fire Control, with officers waiting for the final confirmation that the situation was under control.
“We still have to fight to ensure that it doesn’t spread to other places. But I can assure you that what we have done now is a good job. Fire has been confined.”
Despite the intensity of the blaze, Mr Nissau said the team succeeded in preventing the fire from reaching the fire station behind the market.
“It has not gotten there,” he stressed. “We’ve sectorised the operation. To my left, there are fire engines. To my right, there are fire engines. In front, fire engines. At the back, fire engines.
“So we are fighting it from all four fronts. We’ve saturated up to four sectors—sector one, sector two, sector three, and sector four. All the sectors have operational men who are fighting.”
He said the team was hopeful that within minutes, they would declare the fire under control.
On challenges encountered during the operation, the Assistant Regional Fire Officer cited two major impediments—water supply and public obstruction.
“The challenge, as usual, is the water. We have to commute up and down to get water to augment firefighting,” he said, adding that members of the public also obstructed firefighters.
“I went to the back there, and some people were quarrelling with the firemen. I had to call for the police to intervene. The space for firefighting is obstructed.”
Despite this, he said the team remained focused and had succeeded in containing the flames.
“Everybody should be assured. Businesses around here should be assured that we have confined the fire. The fire will not be able to spread anywhere.”
He added that they had contacted the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to support with water tankers to speed up the final phase of extinguishing the blaze.
“We are waiting for them to add up, and then we’ll quickly finish up with this by morning,” he said.
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