Power Outage Sparked Suame Industrial Fire, Destroying 34 Vehicles
A preliminary investigation has revealed that a power outage led to the devastating fire that swept through the Zone 21 Garage at the Suame Industrial enclave in Kumasi.
The inferno, which broke out on Friday night, destroyed at least 25 shops and 34 vehicles, including 17 saloon cars, 9 minibuses, 8 heavy trucks, and a pickup. The affected businesses specialized in battery servicing, welding, spraying, lubrication, and lathe machine operations.
According to D.O. II Peter Addai, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service in the Ashanti Region, the fire was triggered by a spark from a service pole after power was restored following an outage.
“There was light off around that area in the evening of Friday. When the light came back, there were sparks in a service pole close to a workshop. The sparks ignited a shop and spread rapidly,” he told Luv FM.
Due to the presence of highly flammable materials like oils on the ground, the fire quickly engulfed neighboring shops and vehicles.
Ashanti Region Faces Firefighting Challenges
The Ashanti Region has recently witnessed several major fire incidents, including at Kejetia Market, Asafo Market, and Kwadaso Wood Market. A separate fire at Dagomba Line claimed the life of a 3-year-old child.
So far in 2025, the region has recorded 183 fire incidents. However, the fire service is struggling with inadequate resources, as only 15 fire tenders are operational across 43 districts.
Authorities have called for urgent support to enhance firefighting capabilities and prevent further tragedies.