A fierce fire swept through Agbogbloshie in Accra late Sunday night, November 24, consuming numerous wooden structures but miraculously sparing lives. The incident has left many residents devastated as homes and businesses were reduced to ashes.
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) received the distress call at 9:38 pm and immediately dispatched two fire tenders from the Accra City and Circle Fire Stations. The first responders reached the scene at 9:48 pm but faced an intense inferno that had already engulfed multiple makeshift structures.
Firefighters encountered significant challenges in accessing the site due to the congested layout of the area. Assistant Division Officer Alex King Nartey of the GNFS Public Affairs Department highlighted these obstacles in a Facebook livestream, saying, “Accessibility was a problem. Even to get to the scene was a very big problem for the team. Replenishing the fire tenders and returning to the scene was equally difficult.”
Despite these hurdles, the firefighters worked tirelessly to contain the blaze by 12:54 am and fully extinguished it by 1:38 am, nearly four hours after the fire was first reported.
The fire destroyed numerous wooden structures that served as homes and business spaces for local residents. These makeshift buildings, constructed primarily from highly flammable materials, stood little chance against the fast-spreading flames. Entire livelihoods were lost as belongings and business inventory were consumed in the inferno.
The Agbogbloshie fire underscores the need for enhanced fire safety measures in high-risk areas. Accessibility issues and the use of flammable materials in densely populated zones amplify the potential for extensive damage during such incidents.
