Findings from fire outbreak that killed Ghanaian woman and her three children released

The investigative team tasked to ascertain the cause of the fire which killed a Ghanaian woman and her three children in Finland last year have released a report on their findings so far.

The woman Nana Ago Prah and her three children all perished in the early hours of Friday, December 9, when their Helsinki home was razed down by fire.

The father and husband of the victims, John Owusu, who is also a board member of the Ghana Union Finland, was at work at the time of the incident.

It is believed that the fire started from the sauna in their sixth-floor apartment and that the victims had died out of suffocation.

According to the investigation, the fire had spread from the sauna to the bathroom while the mother and children were most likely asleep. Saunas are a common facility in Finnish homes, consisting of a small room used as a steam bath for refreshing the body.

Saunas are heated with specific sauna stoves, which are placed inside the room. A report cited by the Helsinki Sanomat, stated that the fire started from fabrics that were hanging on top of the sauna stove.


Coffins carrying the remains of Nana Ago and her three children

The investigators believe that either the mother or one of the children might have turned on the sauna in their sixth floor apartment. However, as reported in the investigation, the father, Kwame Atta Owusu, says the family only used the sauna when he was at home and neither the mother nor the children knew how to use the sauna.

There was no fire alarm in the apartment to alert the family about the smoke in the apartment when the fire broke out. However, when the Fire and Rescue Services arrived, the main door of the apartment was open but the inner door was closed, indicating that the mother had been awake at some point during the fire outbreak, the investigation report says.

According to Helsinki Sanomat, the investigators suspect that the mother may have come out to check the situation on the staircase, but returned to the apartment afterwards.


Widower Kwame Atta Owusu (2nd from right) looks on in anguish during the funeral

The investigators believe that she may have tried to help the children out of the apartment, but at this point the inner door may not have opened due to overpressure caused by the fire.

It is quite common in Finland that apartments have two doors, both inner and outer door. The Investigative Board emphasizes that sauna fires occur in homes around Finland, regardless of whether the inhabitants are immigrants or native citizens.

Additionally, the board says that saunas should never be used for drying clothes or storing inflammable material. The incident has prompted the executives of Ghana Union Finland (GUF) to organize interactive workshops and seminars to educate Ghanaians living in Finland on matters relating to insurances, fire alarms and the use of sauna.

The victims of the fire were laid to rest on February 4, 2017.