Residents of Dadiesoaba, near Asafo, in the Kumasi Metropolis, woke up to bizarre news yesterday, following the untimely death of a 54-year-old man, who died during a fire outbreak at house number Plot 15, block 9.
Information available to The Chronicle has it that, an unattended electrical water heater is reported to have triggered the inferno.
The water heater, which was left unattended to, and in the process overheated and ignited fire, with the blaze catching up with other explosives. The fire ran through the ceiling and affected the adjoining rooms.
The man, who has been identified as Kwame Fordjour, is said to have suffocated.
The inferno, which happened on the top floor of a one-storey building at about 01:00hrs on Thursday dawn, destroyed six bedrooms and their contents.
Information available to The Chronicle has it that the floor has ten rooms, out of which six bedrooms and their contents were totally consumed by the fire. The remaining four were partially damaged.
Speaking to the Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana National Fire Service, DOIII Ackah Desmond explained that the fire is believed to have started around 1am and a call was immediately placed to the Fire Service.
According to Ackah, at exactly 1:23hrs, the fire personnel from Kyereapatre fire station arrived at the fire scene and upon arrival, they realised that they had to mobilise two additional fire engines from Komfo Anokye and Manhyia fire stations to come and help to put out the inferno.
DOIII Ackah continued that they succeeded in bringing down the fire at about 02:19hrs on that fateful dawn and finally extinguished the fire sometime around 03:13hrs.
Asked about the cause of the inferno, the Ashanti Regional PRO of the Fire Service, explained that preliminary investigations conducted by the fire service stated that the fire started from the bedroom of the late Kwadwo Fordjuor, 56, who happens to be the caretaker of the affected structure.
DOIII Ackah Desmond said: “an unattended electrical water heater got overheated and ignited the combustibles nearby. The blaze caught up and then run through the ceiling and affected the adjoining rooms.
He explained that the late Fordjour was then fast asleep and woke up due to the intense heat and smoke billowing from the fire, but he was consumed by the raging inferno.
He has subsequently implored the public that real estate or home developers need to incorporate cabling in their structures so that in case there is fire, it will be able to contain the inferno and check the spread of fire.
DOIII Desmond further urged the public to also seek the services of qualified and competent electricians to work on their electrical installation, adding that they should also not hesitate to call us on our emergency numbers.
The corpse has been handed over to the Asokwa Divisonal Command and it has since been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital morgue for preservation and further investigation.
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