FIRE!

 

  Markets are very important in the economy of every country. Ghana, an African country with a population of over 24 million, like all countries in the world has many markets. Some being major and others being minor. Unlike markets in other countries across the planet, Ghanaian markets are unique. Their uniqueness lies in the fact one would hardly find a market that trades in one particular group of wares. In a typical Ghanaian market one can find everything from apples to  suits.

 
One common issue that Ghanaian markets face is the problem of market fires. These are rampant and the effect, typically, is that goods and structures are destroyed with the cost running into thousands of cedis. These fire outbreaks start from varied sources, that is, they may start as a result of an unattended iron, coal pot fire not turned out to wielders forgetting to turn off their wielding torches. The problem is always compounded because of congestion. Every major market in Ghana faces the problem of congestion. Due to this, fire hydrants have been obscured by stalls, lanes that fire trucks could use to access the market are converted into stores etc. All these come together to cause the kind of destruction that occurs during such outbreaks of fires.

 

  Indeed, there were stories of fire everywhere in our newspapers. Fire continue to cause considerable damage to life and property as the country recorded 2,201 fire outbreaks in the first quarter of last year with markets being the most affected.

         Several markets in Ghana have experienced fire outbreaks, what  comes to mind are the fire outbreak at the Makola Market, the kantamanto Market, the Agbogbloshie Market in Accra, the Kumasi Central Market, and the Market in Tamale which destroyed goods and properties worth millions of cedis.

        This fire outbreaks have busted out varied concerns and speculations among the Ghanaian public. At the Centre of most discussions, is the attempt of discovering the cause of what has become a major liability to the state.

        Investigations revealed that all these outbreaks were caused by illegal wiring, some electric cables hanging loosely on the electric poles while some are dangerously exposed, illegal connection of electricity to their shops and poor planning as well as failure on the part of traders to comply with local laws and the educational messages on issue of fire safety.

Statistics                                           

          According to the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), barely two weeks into 2013, 265 fire disasters have been recorded in the Country, this means that 18 fires occur a day and almost one every hour. The fire outbreak have claimed three lives and injured two others.

      According to statistics by the GNFS, the Central Region had 10, Western 7, Brong Ahafo 28, Eastern 10, Northern 2, and Greater Accra 51.

     The categories of the outbreak is under domestic, vehicular, electrical, commercial and industrial, and under these categories, domestic fires recorded the highest, with 18 of them in the Greater Accra Region.

        The fire outbreak do not only destroy properties worth millions of Ghana cedis but also rendered many people homeless, left traders in agony because aside their losses, their livelihood and their dependent were all destroyed and some life’s were lost.

        “This is all I have, my life and my family’s  well being depends on the little I gain from this market” tears rolling down from her eyes “ Now everything is gone” said Abena Amoako, a market woman who lost everything through the fire outbreak at the Makola Market.

Causes

        In most market places in Ghana, shops have been built close to one another without ample space between them to allow for the passage of the fire service in case of fire outbreaks.

      Congestion in our markets place is unbearable, and this has accounted for destruction of properties during fire outbreaks.

       The government tried to solve this problem by providing the traders with well-established and secured market places, but most of them refused to move because people were not patronising their goods like they use to as compared to their old market.

The way forward....  

  In ensuring safety in our markets , I think the traders must first eliminate or avoid fire hazards, they must isolate items that are highly flammable, switch off and unplug electrical items before leaving the market and finally to install smoke alarms to warn off and detect fire in a timely manner.

    In conclusion, I would say that fire could be dangerous but measures can be put in place to reduce the loss of life and properties, it has destroyed our markets enough, we need to stand up to control this hazard.

story by: Elizabeth Okletey