The Ghana National Fire Service in the Ashanti region is cautioning residents against rampant attacks on fire officers and their tenders over delays in response time.
Residents in Krofuom, a suburb of the region’s capital – Kumasi, are reported to have attacked a fire tender when an inferno gutted a local television station, Trinity Television, and church.
The firefighters were compelled to escape the physical attacks by the infuriated residents as the fire swept through properties worth millions of cedis.
It took the intervention of police officers to recall another fire tender to save the situation.
The fire started at about 9 am on Friday, reducing the 18-year-old church building reduced to rubble.
Properties the building housed, including a television studio with other ancillary facilities and accessories, were destroyed.
Workers and Pastors at the Trinity Television station and church located at Krofuom-Adoe Nkwanta had concluded their morning television broadcast when fire gutted a nearby kiosk and engulfed their building.
It is unknown the cause of the fire with no reported cases of casualties.
Owner of the local television, Apostle Collins Boadi recounts the fire incident.
“At about 9:10 am we had finished a service and realized a container behind us was burning. A lot of properties have been destroyed. We were preparing to outdoor a new studio on December 31,” he said
After close to two hours, the fire was completely doused as residents and owners of the facility attempted salvaging the little items left unburnt.
Two fire tenders reportedly moved to the scene, but the initial tender was attacked reportedly by aggrieved residents over what delays on the firefighter’s response time.
“When they came, people started pelting them with stones so they left to protect themselves. Then the police intervened. This is not the first time something like that has happened. The authorities must caution the people against that attitude,” Solomon, an eyewitness, said.
The Ghana National Fire Service in the Ashanti region is unhappy over the rampant attacks on firefighters in the region.
Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing their investigation to ascertain the cause of the blaze.