Even though the cause of the fire could not be established immediately, it was suspected that it might have been caused by smokers around the area.

The fire started at about 8:30p.m. and kept firefighters from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) on their feet until 1a.m. last Sunday before it was totally put out.

Security

When the Daily Graphic got to the scene of the fire outbreak at about 9:30 p.m., firefighters were having a battle of their life preventing the fire from spreading to the Makola No.2 Market and other areas.

There was heavy police presence to provide security and maintain order at the fire scene and clamp down on criminal elements who would want to take advantage of the situation to steal.

Police vehicles had been positioned strategically in the area with personnel of the service working tirelessly to control the mammoth crowd who thronged the fire scene.

Ordeal

Eyewitnesses said personnel from the Accra Central fire station were initially helpless in bringing the fire under control because there was no water in their fire engines. 

An eyewitness, who gave his name as Enoch Kwabena, said the response by the GNFS to the scene of the fire was quite prompt except that they did not have the capacity to fight the fire at the initial stage.

"When the firefighters came, they were not having enough water so they were helpless," he told the Daily Graphic.

However, a massive deployment of a contingent of firefighters from the Tema fire station ensured that the fire was brought under control after almost a five-hour battle.

No access

When the paper returned to the scene of the fire incident at about 7 a.m. last Sunday, it was observed that the place had been closed to the public.

All gates leading to the place had been locked, while security officers stood by, making the place inaccessible.

Information picked up indicated that a combined team of police and GNFS personnel were still at the scene of the fire incident ostensibly taking stock and ensuring that criminal elements did not take advantage of the situation.

Meanwhile, the GNFS had attributed the inability of its men to deal with the fire at its initial stage to dysfunctional water hydrants in the area.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GNFS, Mr Prince Billy Anaglate, said the major challenge the firefighters faced was the non-availability of water in the water hydrant at the Makola No.2 market to fight the initial stage of the fire.