Fire guts three stores and property worth thousands of Ghana Cedis at Aflao

Fire has gutted three stores, destroying several goods worth Thousands of Ghana Cedis on Thursday morning at Aflao in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region.

Two of the affected stores, belonging to a businesswoman, dealing in clothing materials including; exotic lace materials, accessories and sewing machines, were totally raised down in the inferno.

The third, dealing in men and women wears and also running an MTN Mobile Money shop, was halfway destroyed and some items salvaged, while the fourth store on the block, escaped narrowly and its contents made up of cellular phones and accessories evacuated through the roofing, the owners having broken into it.

Owner of the first two stores, her family members and sales girls wept uncontrollably at the scene.

According to an eyewitness, commercial motor riders, who noticed the fires at about 0400 hours raised the alarm and attracted people who attempted to help to bring the fires down.

Firemen from the Ketu South Municipal Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) Secretariat at Denu, joined later by their counterparts from Lome, the Togolese capital, succeeded in bringing the blaze under control.

Mr Solomon Lartey, Second in Command and Operations Director at the Ketu South Fire Secretariat told the Ghana News Agency that the information got to them late at 0500 hours, but managed to bring the fire down after about an hour on arrival.

Mr Lartey said the cause of the fire outbreak was yet to be unravelled and lamented that his men had some initial challenges as the people crowded the scene.

When the GNA revisited the fire scene hours later, the affected owners could be seen examining the burnt items.

Since GNFS men and fire Tenders from Denu, Keta, Akatsi and Dzodze helped in bringing down a major fire that gutted a huge three-storey market complex in the Asigame Market in Lome, overwhelming Firemen of that country four years ago, Ghana and Togo have since had fire-fighting collaboration.