Greater Accra Regional Fire Commander, ACFO II Rashid Kwame Nisawu, said investigations revealed that both incidents stemmed from careless actions that could have been easily avoided.

Investigations into the fire at Lartebiokorshie, which occurred on Saturday, September 13, 2025, indicated that a Chinese national inadvertently ignited the blaze.

“What we are picking from our preliminary investigations is that a foreign expatriate smoked and dropped the cigar into a dustbin. That is believed to have started the fire,” ACFO Nisawu explained during an interview with Channel One Newsroom.

The fire at the Accra Timber Market broke out shortly after, causing extensive damage to several shops and leaving two firefighters injured in the line of duty.

ACFO Nisawu elaborated on the circumstances surrounding this incident, stating, “In this particular case, someone closed for the day, gathered refuse, and set it on fire. He then went to sleep. The fire spread and caused the damage we witnessed.”

Thanks to the prompt response from the GNFS and support agencies, the fire was contained before it could spread to nearby areas, including the Ayalolo cluster of schools, thereby preventing potentially greater harm.

The swift action of the firefighters was instrumental in mitigating the impact of the blaze, but the damage to the market has raised serious concerns among traders and local residents.

ACFO Nisawu stressed the importance of adhering to basic fire safety protocols, as these incidents reveal a troubling trend of negligence in fire education.

“These are clear cases of human error. It shows that people are not taking fire education seriously,” he noted, urging the public to be more vigilant and responsible in their daily activities.

The fires have reignited discussions about fire safety measures within the community. Local authorities are now considering the implementation of more rigorous fire safety training programmes for residents and business owners to prevent future occurrences.

Data from the GNFS indicates that human negligence accounts for a significant percentage of fire incidents across the country.

In the Greater Accra Region alone, there were over 300 reported fire outbreaks in the past year, with a considerable portion attributed to careless behaviours, such as improper disposal of smoking materials and failure to extinguish fires safely.

Another person is said to have sustained injuries in the incident which occurred on Tuesday night near the Bawku Police station.

Adom News‘ Halidas Dramani reports the unknown men attacked the market for reasons yet to be established.

They broke into stores within the township and set some woods in the market ablaze.

It took the intervention of Fire Service personnel to douse the fire which could have wreaked havoc in the market.

No arrest has so far been made.

This comes in the wake of curfew hours imposed on the Bawku Municipality and its environs in the Upper East Region from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am which took effect from Wednesday, August 17, 2022.

The curfew was as a result of renewed clashes that led to the death of four people around the Bawku Senior High School where some unknown assailants allegedly attacked the victims, together with some other individuals who were returning from Bolgatanga on a commercial bus.

Fatawu Ibrahim, Bunyaminu Adam and Ibrahim Abdulai were shot dead while the driver of the vehicle sustained gunshot wounds.

A portion of the Kantamanto timber market in Accra has been ravaged by fire, destroying goods and property running into thousands of cedis.

The inferno, which occurred in the early hours of Monday, destroyed several wood sheds and structures in the market.

Visuals from the scene captured the traders looking on helpless as their items were destroyed.

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Owing to the stalls being primarily wooden, they were completely razed to the ground.

However, the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Watch the video attached above: