A Sunday midnight fire incident in Sunyani, the Bono Regional capital, has destroyed the Sunyani Circuit Court and District Magistrate Court ‘B’ building, along with critical court materials.
The completely burnt facility left the courtrooms filled with ashes and debris.
It took personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) about eight hours to bring the fire under control.
The police, fire officers and some court staff tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to salvage some items from the courtrooms while the fire raged.
The Bono Regional Fire Commander, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Grade I (ACFOI), Cecil Addo, told journalists that everything in the courts had been burnt, adding that the cause of the fire was yet to be determined.
The roof of the building partly caved in, while the walls were black with smoke.
Important court items
Inside the facility, important court items such as case files, books and documents, computers and other office equipment, including wooden benches, were completely burnt.
Some of the legal records were found in piles of ashes.
As the crowd around the fire scene increased, it turned out many of the curious onlookers were agitated litigants at the two courts.
Incident
An eyewitness security man, Salam Baba Mamudu, who was on duty, told the Daily Graphic that the fire started around 1 a.m. when he was inside the facility.
He explained that he heard strange sounds from the ceiling, and shortly after, parts of the ceiling started falling.
“Smoke quickly filled the building, making it hard for me to see. I couldn’t find my way out,” he said, explaining that some nearby residents who rushed to the court’s premises helped him to escape.
Water shortage
The Fire Commander ACFOI Addo said the firefighters’ biggest challenge was water shortage.
He explained that the fire engines ran out of water, and when they tried to get more from hydrants in Sunyani, none had water flowing through them.
ACFOI Addo said they also rushed to the Ghana Water Limited (GWL) office, but could not get water.
He said at the end, they had to buy water from a private place at Bakoniaba before they could continue fighting the fire.
“Because of the delay, the fire started again at some point before they finally brought it under control,” he said.
ACFOI Addo explained that the command received a distress call at about 3:19 a.m., and the first fire engine arrived at 3:27 a.m.
He said the firefighters started putting out the fire from the front, while another team from Abesim fought it from the back, “but the fire became too strong”.
ACFOI Addo warned the public not to enter the building, saying it was structurally weak and that access could also interfere with investigations.
Officials visit
The Bono Regional Minister, Joseph Addae Akwaboa; the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunyani East, Seid Mubarak; the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Vincent Adjei Antwi, and some legal practitioners have since visited the scene.
The Regional Minister, who interacted with the management of the courts, said a temporary place had been found for the courts to use.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh