Fire destroys sawmill at Adweso

Fire has completely razed a sawmill at Adweso estate, a suburb of Koforidua in the Eastern region.

The fire reduced the Mill to ashes and destroyed properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis.

The fire, which is reported to have started around 4.30am torched the entire structure which is mainly made of wood.

The fire also destroyed several equipment including over five heavy duty sawmill machines, lumber of varying sizes and furniture.

It took the intervention of the personnel of the fire service and neighbours to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby homes.

It is unknown what could have sparked the fire but some residents believe some combustibles may have aided the spread.

When Journalists visited the scene, personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were still trying to extinguish the fire.

It took three water tenders to completely douse the fire.

Owner of the Sawmill, Ben Bright, told journalists he was informed about the outbreak by workers after they noticed smoke billowing from the sawmill.



" Two of my workers who sleep in one of the rooms came out and knock my door alerting of the fire inside the workshop so I came out and what I saw was a severe fire that we cannot do anything about it so I rather rushed and climbed the other side of the shop and put the switch off. We called the fire service who came in to assist us even they were late in responding ". He stated.

The owner of the destroyed sawmill laments he could not quantify his losses, though he admits his lifetime investment has been lost.

The eastern regional commander of the Ghana National Fire Service, ACFO Joshua Nguah could not tell the cause of the fire. He however, cautioned the public to be wary of materials that could easily trigger fire outbreaks.

‘’I think it's too early for the main cause of it now. Investigations is still ongoing as you saw us talking to the owner of the shop before we arrive at the cause. However, it is an unfortunate thing and we believe there are lessons that we should learn".

"When we know our buildings are that of the class A fires we should always take precautionary measures when we're leaving the place of work. We must ensure everything is off, any combustible material around should be kept off the place.’’ He added.