Parts of Accra, including Lapaz, Mallam and Awoshie, are experiencing a blackout following a fire at the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) substation at Mallam.

The fire destroyed the facility’s control boards and transformers. The cause of the incident is yet to be made public.

However, firefighters from the Adjen Kotoku and Amasaman fire stations contained the blaze, preventing it from spreading to other critical installations within the substation.

The incident marks the second time this year that a fire has affected a GRIDCo substation. In April, an explosion and fire outbreak occurred at the GRIDCo Akosombo Substation in the afternoon. The incident disrupted the transmission system, affecting a capacity of about 720 megawatts.

Ghana primarily exports electricity to Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso through the 225kV Bolgatanga-Ouagadougou interconnection.

Recent fire incidents

A fire incident engulfed a Yutong bus with registration number GS 8482-17 at Gbogdaa in the Savannah Region on Sunday, October 4. Fortunately, no casualties were recorded in the incident.

According to a Facebook post, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) said the blaze was triggered by a broken engine oil line, which caused oil to leak onto hot engine components and ignite.

Ghana recorded another bus fire incident in August. A VIP bus was destroyed by fire at Abuakwa in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The bus was en route to Sunyani from Kumasi when it caught fire; fortunately, passengers escaped unhurt. Although authorities are yet to determine the cause of the incident, an eyewitness who was speaking to the media disclosed that the bus began emitting smoke shortly after setting off from the Kumasi station.

“When the vehicle started smoking, within less than five minutes, the whole bus was engulfed in flames,” he said.

In July, a Yutong passenger bus was destroyed after it caught fire on the Mankessim–Accra highway in the Central Region on Wednesday, July 8. The fire, which broke out at about 4:34 a.m., was brought under control and completely extinguished by the Ghana National Fire Service at 7:12 a.m.

Although the passengers lost their belongings and commercial goods, they managed to escape before the bus was engulfed in flames. The incident was confirmed by the Ghana National Fire Service in a Facebook post.

Last month, a fire that swept through six self-contained apartments in a compound house at Aboabo in the Asokore Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Region left 15 homeless.

The blaze was already well developed by the time the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) arrived. However, the occupants managed to escape unhurt before the flames engulfed the apartments.