“Should I urinate to quench the fire?” - Eyewitness shares what Fire Service personnel said during Makola fire

According to reports, the fire officers went to the scene with an empty van claiming they don’t have water at their Makola station.

In an interview of one of the eyewitnesses by Accra based Citi TV, not only did the fire personnel fail to do their job on time, but they also hurled abusive words towards the traders.

One of the witnesses who identified as Patricia Amber told Citi TV that: “The fire began about 7 am on Monday. We walked to the fire service close by but their tender was out of water. Efforts to get support from other service stations at the initial stage were fruitless. One incensed woman asked a fire officer to call another station and he asked the woman whether he should urinate to quench the fire?”

Another eyewitness said the fire initially started on just a small portion of the stores and he went to the fire service station just across the street to inform them.

“When I went, they told me that they are not working because there is no water and their car is not even working. They are functioning over there and there is nothing there”, he said.

The Ghana Fire Service, however, has scoffed off blame from Monday’s outbreak. According to them, they cannot be blamed for the lack of water in their trucks.

Ellis Robinson Oko, the PRO said there was no water flowing through the fire hydrant. He said the actions and inactions of some state agencies such as the Ghana Water Company, Electricity Company of Ghana, and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly make it difficult for the firefight.

Fire servicemen walked by foot to Makola fire scene with no tender - Witness narrates Fire servicemen walked by foot to Makola fire scene with no tender - Witness narrates Pulse Ghana

Speaking on Accra-based Starr FM, he said "We didn't run out of water. The problem is all the fire hydrants didn't have water in them so we had to rely on water from circle and Alajo. It's the responsibility of the water company to manage the fire hydrants. We don’t manage fire hydrants.

"As at the time the fire happened, all the hydrants were not flowing. The water company didn't tell us why they shut it yesterday. We couldn't leave our duty to go ask Ghana Water Company why there was no water in our hydrants so we did what was required at the time and that's what we did. t’s rather unfortunate that everyone is blaming us but let’s look at the situation on the ground before blaming the fire service."