Correspondence from the Bono Region

A devastating fire outbreak on Monday, December 15, 2025, in Sunyani Zongo in the Bono Region, destroyed about five shops, burning goods and materials valued at thousands of Ghana Cedis.

The inferno, which reportedly broke out around 9:30 am, spread rapidly through the affected shops, leaving shop owner helpless as their sources of livelihood were reduced to ashes.

The intensity of the blaze could have spread to other shops but for the timely intervention of fire personnel from the Sunyani Municipal Fire Station. Kofi Kumi, a tailor and one of the affected shop owners, recounted that the fire originated from the hardware shop and spread rapidly, giving little room for traders to salvage their belongings.

“The fire started from a hardware shop, and before we could fully grasp what was happening, the flames had spread rapidly towards my shop. Because of the intensity of the fire, we were forced to evacuate immediately to save our lives, leaving everything to be consumed by the fire”.

According to the Bono Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), ACFO II Cecil Addo, who led a team of fire personnel to the scene, they got a distress call reporting a fire outbreak, prompting a swift response to the fire scene.

“We received a distress call at our control room at about 9:30 a.m., and we immediately mobilised and dispatched our personnel to the scene. Upon arrival, our team worked swiftly and professionally to contain the blaze and successfully douse the fire, preventing it from spreading further”.

He further disclosed that although it took fire personnel nearly fifty minutes to finally bring the inferno under control due to its intensity, no casualties were recorded.

“It took the fire personnel nearly fifty minutes to finally bring the inferno under control because of how intense it was, but thankfully, no casualties were recorded.”