Dzorwulu fire: Firefighters collect data in tattered notebook

The seeming lack of resources and preparedness of the Ghana National Fire Service appear to have been exposed by firefighters who attended to a fire outbreak at Dzorwulu Junction in Accra, when they had to be prompted to collect data from in a tattered notebook.

Citi News’  Marie -Franz Fordjoe, who was at the scene, said “it was worrisome to discover that the firefighters were reluctant to provide me with information, until I sighted their record keeping book. They were unable to concretely respond to my initial questions on the facts of the incident.”

“Apparently, they hadn’t even taken note of anything until I enquired. This triggered whispers amongst them and they started scribbling something down in what appeared to be their record-keeping book,” she added.

The about 20 occupants of the six houses could not retrieve any item from the debris after the blaze was doused by personnel from the Abelemkpe Fire Department.

The Fire Officer in charge at the scene, Isaac Amoah, told Citi News that the cause of the fire was yet to be definitively ascertained, but early indications suggest it may have been caused by the activities of residents in the area, who “have turned this place into a cooking joint.”

According to residents, their attention was drawn to the inferno by a little boy who had gone into one of the rooms to call his mother, only to find the room ablaze.

Many of the affected residents are food vendors who ply their trade a few meters from their places of abode, partly made of wood and blocks.

One fire tender was brought to douse the flames, while items worth thousands of cedis were lost, but no casualties were recorded in the blaze.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana