A fire incident which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, August 27, at Asawase Pelele has left hundreds of residents homeless.

Asawase Pelele is a densely populated slum in the Asokore Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The inferno destroyed several wooden structures used as makeshift homes belonging to the victims.

According to the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), it had difficulty preventing the fire from causing further damage due to the densely packed nature of the makeshift structures. Meanwhile, are yet to reveal the cause of the unfortunate incident.

The victims, including young women with children and men are said to have traveled from the Northern Ghana in search of job opportunities.

They have called on the government to provide assistance.

A similar incident occurred in July were several kiosks were destroyed at Ofankor, in the Greater Accra Region.

Fortunately, personnel from the GNFS arrived at the scene in time to preventing the fire from spreading and causing further damage.

In June, several goods were destroyed and businesses disrupted after a fire swept through parts of Tudu near the police station in Accra's Central Business District (CBD).

The blaze left traders distressed and stranded, prompting calls for swift government intervention. Meanwhile, Alex King Nartey, an officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, has stated that preliminary investigations suggest an electrical fault may have caused the fire.

Last year, two shops on the fourth floor of a commercial building at Tudu were gutted by fire. In response the GNFS promptly deployed three fire tenders, successfully bringing the blaze under control and preventing further damage.

Divisional Officer I (DOI) Alex King Nartey, from the GNFS Public Relations Department, confirmed that while the fire has been successfully controlled, investigations are underway to establish what triggered it.“Due to the timely intervention of our fire tenders here, this whole building has been salvaged from the fire,” he stated.

No casualties have been reported, but authorities are working to assess the extent of the damage and identify the source of the fire. On Monday night, May 11, at about 11:20 p.m, the intervention of the Ghana National Fire Service saved parts of the Nima Market following a fire outbreak.

In a brief update shared on its official Facebook page on Tuesday, May 12, the Service noted that the fire destroyed goods and properties belonging to traders.

The latest incident has once again amplified concerns about the recurring market fires in parts of Accra, with traders repeatedly suffering heavy financial losses.

Earlier in January, a large fire swept through sections of the Madina Market in Accra, triggering a swift response from the Ghana National Fire Service as efforts continue to contain the blaze.

The GNFS, in a Facebook update, said fire appliances from the Madina and Legon stations were dispatched to the market shortly after the incident was reported.

Fire officers are working under difficult conditions to control the flames, with heavy smoke spreading across the busy trading area.While the exact scale of destruction has not yet been determined, early indications point to damage to several stalls and their merchandise.

In response, traders and nearby residents have been moved away from the affected areas, as security personnel restrict access to parts of the market to enable firefighters to carry out their operations.

Authorities have not yet established the cause of the fire and will begin investigations once the situation is fully under control. In the same area, an inferno destroyed several makeshift wooden and metal structures used for both commercial and residential purposes at Madina Washing Bay near Redco Flat on Sunday evening, August 3.

The blaze destroyed utility poles, traders’ wares, personal belongings, and an unspecified number of structures worth several thousand cedis, according to the Ghana National Fire Service. In a Facebook post, the Fire Service noted that while battling the inferno, one of its firefighters sustained a minor leg injury.