The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) says it is investigating the cause of the fire, which destroyed four apartments in a residential block at the 37 Military Officers’ Mess, over the weekend.

Divisional Officer (DO) Grade II Ellis Okoh, the Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, in an interview with the media said the Service received a distress call at the 0908 hours on Saturday, and arrived at the scene about nine minutes thereafter. With two fire trucks, the firefighters extinguished the blaze at 1005 hours.

The fire, however, burnt completely three of the top level apartments of the one-storey Block C, which comprises eight apartments. Only two of the affected officers were able to salvage a few partially torched personal belongings. There were, however, no casualties.

DO Okoh appealed to the residents and the public to volunteer information, which would help to establish the cause of disaster. The destroyed property included clothing, furniture, air conditioners, television sets, and kitchen items

Meanwhile, Colonel Eric Aggrey-Quashie, the Director of the Public Relations Directorate of the Ghana Armed Forces, has disclosed that the affected officers, with their families, had been relocated temporarily at the Officers’ Quarters at the Burma Camp. The fire, he said, started in the room of an officer, who had gone on a 24-hour duty.

Before those around who detected the smoke could break into the apartment to extinguish the fire, it quickly spread to the rest of the top floor, he said.

Though the fire officers responded rapidly to the call for help, the intensity of the fire, he noted, was so severe that they were limited in their intervention.

The combustible nature of the ceiling and the dry weather did not help matters, he said.
At the time of the incident the family members of the affected officers were all not around.