About 80 makeshift shops and twelve bedrooms were destroyed when a fire swept through Atonsu Bokro Market in Kumasi on Wednesday, Ghana’s National Fire Service (GNFS) said.
The fire, which officials believe started from unattended cooking within the market, had already reached an advanced stage by the time the first fire appliance from the Regional Headquarters Substation arrived minutes after an emergency call at about 1:48 p.m.
Reinforcements from the Bost Fire Station and a water tanker from the Regional Headquarters helped bring the fire under control within just over an hour. It was fully extinguished by 4:16 p.m., the service said.
In all, forty-eight shops and fifty bedrooms in nearby residential buildings were saved from destruction.
“The swift response and coordinated effort prevented what could have been a far more devastating incident,” the GNFS said in a statement.
Market fires remain a recurring problem in Ghana’s major cities, often linked to congestion, makeshift structures and unsafe cooking practices, raising renewed concerns about fire safety in commercial hubs.
The Ashanti Region has recorded at least 10 fire incidents within a week.
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