Fire destroys ECG Power Station at Kumawu

Kumawu (Ash), Oct. 5, GNA - The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Primary Sub-station at Kumawu was razed by fire on Monday night. The situation had plunged the Kumawu Township and four other communities in the Sekyere East District into total darkness and brought the socio-economic activities of the people to a temporary halt.

The other communities are Bodomase, Woraso, Besoro and Abotanso. All the control panels, circuit brakers and switches in the 33000/11000-volt power station, which supplied electricity to the affected towns together with the building that housed it were totally destroyed by the fire.

The main transformer, which is situated just outside the building was however, saved by the timely intervention of fire personnel from the Ejisu Fire Service Station.

It is, however, not immediately known whether the intense heat from the fire had affected the transformer.

The cause of the fire outbreak is not yet known, but Mr Anderson Adu-Gyamfi, Sekyere East District Manager of the ECG, suspects a cable explosion.

Briefing the Ghana News Agency at Effiduase on Tuesday, Mr Adu-Gyamfi said the fire started after a huge explosion at about 2 am on Monday night.

He said the caretaker at the station immediately rang the police who informed the Ejisu Fire Service Station due to the breakdown of the fire tender at Effiduase.

Mr Adu-Gyamfi said the fire personnel managed to prevent the fire from extending to the transformer, which had by then not caught fire. He said he had already informed the Regional Engineer and a team had been dispatched to the station to test the transmitters on the transformer.

Mr Adu-Gyamfi said if the transformer was found to be in good condition, new switches would be installed within the week to restore power to the affected towns.

He, however, said if the transformer was affected, it could take sometime before power could be restored.

Barima Asumadu Sakyi II, the Kumawuhene and some of his elders together with the District Manager, also visited the station on Tuesday to assess the damage caused by the fire.

He described the situation as unfortunate and said it was causing a lot of anxiety among the people in the affected communities. Barima Asumadu Sakyi said the power outage had affected the activities of the local hospital and secondary school in the town. He, however, expressed the hope that the engineers would work around the clock to restore power.