Over 80 shops razed by Odorna Market fire

By Nana Asare Barimah

17 JANUARY

About 80 shops have been razed by fire that gutted the Odorna Market at Circle on Wednesday night.

The fire, which started around 8:00pm, was brought under control by personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service with four fire tenders.
It is unclear what may have started the fire.
Citi News’ Sixtus Dong Ullo who was at the scene of the fire, reported that a helpless but curious crowd looked on while fire fighters tried frantically to douse the fire.

Armed men and women of the Police Service were also there to keep law and order, while the National Ambulance Service was on hand to provide emergency medical services.

Executive Secretary of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s Task-Force at the Market, Richard Mensah, who was among the first people to arrive at the scene, told Citi News the Assembly will take steps to deal with avoidable human errors often responsible for such incidents,
The Klottey-Korley Member of Parliament, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, in whose jurisdiction the market is located, called for an immediate structural integrity assessment of the market to avert future outbreaks.
But an opinion leader at the market, Salamatu Adams, wants the Metropolitan Assembly to stop people from sleeping and cooking in the market.
No casualties were recorded beyond the destruction caused to traders’ wares running into thousands of Ghana cedis.

Market fires are quite common in Ghana, with some markets in major cities often experiencing more than one of such fire outbreaks.

In this same market, there was a similar fire incident in 2013.
Just like this particular fire outbreak, the last one also occurred when traders had closed and locked up, a situation that makes it difficult for fire fighters to gain access.

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By: |citinewsroom.com|Ghana