A devastating fire has gutted seven commercial stores at Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality, destroying goods and valuables estimated at more than GHC 4 million.
The late-night blaze, which occurred on Thursday, wiped out a wide range of merchandise belonging to two business partners, Mr Iddrisu Braimah Kanton, 37, and Mr Kajia Duabadi, 33, who own the affected shops.
Items lost include over 1,000 bags of maize, 1,000 bags of soya beans, 300 bags of sesame, nearly 3,000 bags of cement, furniture, swimming equipment, borehole pipes, and a large sum of cash reportedly withdrawn from a bank a day before the incident. The cash loss alone is estimated at about GHC 1 million.
Mr Kanton said he was alerted while asleep and quickly contacted the Ghana National Fire Service, but the response was hampered by a major challenge. According to him, the fire tender assigned to the area was out of service, forcing firefighters to depend on portable extinguishers, which proved inadequate against the intensity of the blaze.
Residents and youth in the area also attempted to assist using water from boreholes and tractors, but were unable to contain the rapidly spreading fire, which raged from around 10:00 p.m. into the early hours of the following day.
Eyewitnesses described a helpless scene as the fire consumed the stores while the owners watched their investments go up in flames.
The Sissala East Municipal Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service, DO3 Tierku Gordon, confirmed that the service received the distress call at about 10:40 p.m. and responded immediately, but met the fire at an advanced stage.
He explained that the fire tender had been grounded since April 16 due to multiple mechanical faults, including a damaged axle spring, broken centre bolt, and tyre alignment issues, making it unsafe for use.
He added that investigations point to a possible electrical fault or activities such as cooking or charging of weighing scales as potential causes of the fire.
The Member of Parliament for Sissala East, Mr Mohammed Issah Bataklia, and the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Adamu Yakubu, visited the scene to commiserate with the victims and assured them of efforts to restore the fire tender and prevent a recurrence.
