The Western Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service has confirmed that two saloon vehicles and three handcarts were destroyed in a fire outbreak at the Albert Bosumtwi-Sam Fishing Harbour in Sekondi on Sunday, June 21.
The fire, which lasted for about four hours, also damaged part of the administration block of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) located within the fishing harbour enclave. However, no fishing boats were affected by the blaze.
Speaking to Citi News on Monday, June 22, Divisional Officer One (DO I) Emmanuel Bonney said preliminary investigations suggest the fire was triggered by a rainfall-induced landslide that damaged an electricity line, igniting the blaze.
He explained that the situation was further worsened by heavy rainfall, which allowed fuel to spread through water-filled gutters towards a nearby tank farm, intensifying the impact of the incident.
“…So, as it was raining, the gutters were filled with water, and the fuel was flowing on top of the water, with the fire spreading toward the tank farm. We had to act quickly to contain it and stop the fire from spreading so that we could extinguish it,” he explained.
According to him, firefighters focused on preventing the flames from reaching critical infrastructure, including a coastal fuel tank, which could have triggered a much larger disaster.
“That is exactly what we did, and we finally extinguished the fire at 8:15. We were able to prevent the coastal tank from catching fire. It was the rear section of the administration block of GPHA that got burnt, but we managed to save the entire building from being destroyed,” he said.
