Over 450 wooden structures along Circle-Accra rail line gutted by fire

The structures in flame

More than 450 wooden structures which served as homes to some squatters living along the Circle-Accra rail line were destroyed by a fire outbreak which engulfed the area on Wednesday.

The inferno rendered most of the squatters homeless, while it destroyed properties running into several millions of cedis, but there were no casualties.

The situation interrupted electricity supply to some areas in Accra such as Circle, Adabraka, North Industrial, Kaneshie, Bubuashie as wires from the national grid were burnt.

When this reporter visited the scene the following day at about 8:00 a.m., some of the squatters were erecting new wooden structures in place of those that got burnt the previous day.

Scrap dealers had a field day scavenging for metals, while the affected squatters looked on devastated.

A few others were seen salvaging what was left of their burnt items.

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive, Mrs Elisabeth Tawiah Sackey, and personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) visited the scene to assess the situation.

The Acting Director of Operations of the GNFS, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Grade Two (ACFO II) Joseph Kofi Forson, told the Ghanaian Times that the Service had a distress call at about 5:37 p.m. and fire tenders and firefighters were deployed to the scene.

He said the first tender arrived at 5:41p.m. to tackle the fire.

ACFO Forson stated that the fire was brought under control at 8:27p.m. and finally extinguished at 8:57p.m.

The Deputy Operations Officer stated that six fire tenders were brought from the National Headquaters, Ministries, Circle, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and Accra Regional Headquarters.

He lamented that the lack of fire hydrants in the immediate environs of the fire to provide water made it difficult to put out the fire, explaining that that fire personnel had to travel long distances for water.

ACFO II Forson said the cause of the fire was under investigations.

The Regional Minister expressed regret at the recurrence of such fire outbreaks in the area.

Mr Titus-Glover cautioned the squatters to stay away from the area since the place was not meant for settlement.

“I don’t want to see anybody here; this place is not habitable and anybody who constructs any structure to be used as settlement will be arrested by law enforcement agencies,” he added.

Mr Titus-Glover commended the firefighters for their hard work to extinguish the fire.

BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI