Fire engulfs Oppong Memorial SHS boys dormitory

Authorities at the Oppong Memorial Senior High School (SHS) at Kokofu are appealing for assistance following Thursday's fire outbreak at the boy’s dormitory which destroyed several items.

According to reports, the fire broke out at about 11 am on January 30. No casualty was recorded. However, the school has confirmed that several items including student’s mattress, provisions, books, trunks and chop boxes are among the several items lost in the fire.

Students are still counting their losses as they couldn’t save most of their reading materials. Those affected by the disaster have been relocated to other dormitories. Meanwhile, authorities are appealing for immediate assistance in other to ease the situation.

Two secondary schools have recorded separate cases of fire outbreaks in the month of January. The Oppong Memorial SHS in the Asante Region comes in second after the Accra Academy fire which occurred on January 15, 2020, the fire gutted the Alema and Halm-Addo halls of the school.

In less than 2-weeks after the incident at Accra Academy, another fire broke out at the Alema Hall destroying more items. The cause of both outbreaks is yet to be known, according to the Ghana National Fire Service, investigation on the cause of both fires are still ongoing.

The situation at the Oppong Memorial Senior High School requires urgent attention in other to reduce the decongested boy's dormitory. More than 300 students were affected by the fire which occurred during class hours.

The Bekwai Municipal Director of the Ghana Education Service, Lucy Ama Ankrah, has appealed to government and NGO’s to come to the aid of the affected students.

“We are appealing to the government for a new structure to house the students because we don’t know where we are sending them. So when you go to House 3 and 4, the room is choked especially because tracks 1 and 2 are in school at the moment. So we need classrooms too to contain them,” she lamented.