100 Structures Burnt In French Line Fire Outbreak- GNFS

One hundred wooden and metal structures at Alabar French Line in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, together with their contents, were destroyed during a fire outbreak on Sunday, December 10, 2023.

The incident has left traders devastated and calling on the government to come to their aid.

In a statement, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) said five pumps were dispatched to fight the fire which was subsequently doused around 5 pm.

“Firefighters, led by STNO I Kwame Sarfo, successfully contained the blaze by 10:58 am, and finally knocked it out at 5:35 pm, overcoming challenges such as public obstruction, market congestion, and accessibility issues.”

It said 250 market structures and their contents were saved from the ravages of the fire while no casualty was recorded.

Though it is not known what caused the fire, the fighters said the use of gas cylinders facilitated the rapid spread of the fire.

“People continue to cook here. We observed that whenever the fire moved to the next structure you could hear an explosion.”

Speaking to the media, one victim said she was able to salvage a few of her goods from the shop.

“We were at home when we heard a call that the French Line was on fire. When we came the entire place was on fire so we had to break into our shop to salvage some goods. We retrieved a small portion of the things.”

A shoemaker who is counting his losses said his two shops with over 100 shoes went down in the fire.

“I have two structures and they are all burned. All my goods have burned.”

One other woman who could not hold back her tears pleaded with the government for financial assistance.

Three thousand, eight hundred and nineteen (3,819) fire outbreaks were recorded in the first half of 2023 out of which 1,478 were domestic fires, 636 commercial fires, 559 bush fires, 455 electrical fires, 363 vehicular fires, 168 refuse dump fires, 146 institutional fires and 14 industrial fires.

In January, the country recorded 827 fires, 728 in February, 622 in March, 506 in April, 428 in May, 337 in June and 371 in July.