An unattended burning candle in a room resulted in Thursday’s fire disaster at Asawase in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi, Robert Fiadzoe, Ashanti Regional Chief Fire Officer, has said.

The fire destroyed several properties worth thousands of cedis and rendered many victims homeless.

Speaking in an in interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Friday December 23, Mr Fiadzoe said fire personnel had a tough time dealing with the inferno due to the poor planning of the area.

He said: “The investigations we have done indicate that somebody left a lit candle in one of the rooms unattended to and that caused the fire. I must be emphatic on that. When you leave those things in your room and go out without attending to it, that will be the result.

He added: “It is most unfortunate that due to one person’s negligence, a whole community will be razed. This is pathetic and painful. We have been doing education all over and every time.

“As we speak now, we are still doing house-to-house education, but it is up to the citizenry to complement the efforts of the fire workers by taking into consideration the basic educational tips that are provided. Negligence on the part of the pubic makes our work very difficult.”

The Asawase incident follows a similar gas explosion at Trade Fair Junction, near the office of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) at La Dadekotopon, on Thursday December 22, which killed six persons and injured 35.

Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com