Alex King Nartey, the Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), has disclosed that fire tenders at the closest fire stations that could have responded swiftly to the Adum Market fire outbreak were out of commission.
The fire, which began in the early hours of Friday, March 21, quickly spread through a section of the busy Adum Market, sending traders into panic as they scrambled to salvage whatever goods they could.
Addressing the delay in the fire response, Alex King Nartey disclosed in an interview with Joy News that the nearest GNFS stations, which could have provided an immediate response, were unable to do so due to faulty fire tenders.
He explained that the Komfo Anokye and Kumasi Metro fire stations, which were closest to the scene, had no functional fire engines at the time of the outbreak.
“As we have always bemoaned the outdated nature of our fire tenders, the closest station that could have attended to the situation would have ideally been the Komfo Anokye or our Metro station but unfortunately, both fire tenders were out of commission and so we had to fall on our regional headquarters which is 20 minutes drive.
“Though it was 20 minutes away, our officers were able to get there in 10 minutes and we got to the scene around 06:15.”
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