Fire destroys 7 cars, shops in Tema

Some residents around Shalom Spot at Community 18 in Tema in the Greater Accra Region had to run for their lives when a fire ravaged a fitting shop in the area on Sunday.About seven cars were completely burnt in the process with three other container shops destroyed.

Some residents suspect someone was burning refuse within the fitting shop and this could have spread to cars within the yard around 7:30 pm.

A Neighbourhood Watchdog Committee Commander, Isaac Ozor said he received a call from one of his workers over a fire outbreak in the area.

“I immediately called 192 but to no avail. I then called a police contact who called the Ghana National Fire Service. I later received a from the service enquiring details about location and all,” he said.

He then rushed to the office of the Electricity Company of Ghana in the area to inform them about the fire. This then enabled the utility provider to put out the light in the area to prevent further spread of the fire.

“At the time, the fire had destroyed about two cables and this could have been much worse had it not been this intervention,” Ozor narrated.The fire personnel with assistance from the police and neighbours put out the raging fire.

Some shop owners who heard about the incident rushed to salvage what was left behind including a mattress shop which was emptied before the fire could spread to that part.

An apprentice at the fitting shop, Seidu Braimah who also rushed in after hearing of the incident had no option but to be assisted to move some of the cars.

“We were able to push a few of the cars. At the time, some were already on fire and we couldn’t have allowed all to be destroyed. The next headache is to break the news to the car owners,” he said.