Three people were killed by fire, while a fourth person sustained severe burns, when a five-bedroom house in which they were living caught fire in Daboya in the Northern Region .
According to police investigators who visited the scene of the incident, they suspected that the fire might have been caused by petrol which came into contact with naked fire which had been lit by the victims to cook food.
The person who managed to escape from the raging fire but sustained various degrees of burns is in critical condition at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH).
The police were yet to establish the identities of the deceased at the time of filing this report.
Intervention from Fire Service It took personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) from Damongo, the West Gonja District capital, which is about two hours’ drive from Daboya, the North Gonja District capital, to put out the fire, which destroyed the house completely.
Police account The Damango District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Opoku Agyeman Prempeh, who confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic, said police investigators who visited the scene of the fire saw three bodies that had been burnt beyond recognition.
The fourth person who was seriously burned was quickly transported to hospital.
According to him, the deceased, who were chainsaw operators, were alleged to be transferring petrol from a bigger barrel into a smaller container for easy transportation for the day's activity when the naked fire which they had lit to cook their food came into contact with the fuel which exploded, leading to the fire which engulfed the entire house.
ASP Prempeh told the Daily Graphic that the fourth person who lived together with the deceased managed to escape but sustained various degrees of burns and was in critical condition at the TTH.
GNFS account When contacted, the Damongo District Fire Officer, Divisional Officer (DO) Grade Two, Mr James Ayiania, said the Fire Service received the distress call from Daboya late and it took his men about two hours to arrive at the scene as a result of the bad nature of the road from Damongo to Daboya.
According to him, the fire engine which was dispatched to attend to the fire got stuck in the mud along the way and officers had to bring in a bulldozer being used for road construction at Busunnu to pull it from the mud to continue the journey to Daboya. Eyewitnesses
Some residents who were attracted to the scene as a result of the screams for help by the victims who were trapped in the building said they could not do much, as the inferno had engulfed the entire house.
They were of the view that if there was a fire station in Daboya, the the victims could have been saved or the damage could have been minimized.
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