Three fuel tankers parked close to a Bulk Oil Storage and Transporation Company (BOST) depot at Buipe in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region have been completely burned to the ground.
The three trucks caught fire on Friday night at about 7pm and firefighters at the scene had very little success at handling it, due to the lack of fire tenders.
According to reports, it took firefighters almost two hours to bring the fire under control, with the help of fire extinguishers present on the BOST site.
Two by standers suffered minor injuries in the wake of the fire, however, an assistant to one of the truck drivers suffered severe injuries and has since been rushed to the hospital.
Savannah Region fire commander, Kwasi Baffour-Awuah, said that, the Central Gonja fire tender, which would have been used to fight the fire, has been down for almost a year.
He said, ” the Central Gonja District Fire Service can’t fight fires because there are no fire tenders, therefore, in case of emergency the Central Gonja area usually waits for fire tenders from Damongo, which is about three hours distance, to fight fires.”
Mr Baffour-Awuah went on to add that, out of the seven districts in the Savannah Region, only three have fire tenders; namely Damongo, Salaga and Sawla.
Many of the residents close to the scene of the fire were forced to flee their homes after it started.
