2 Arrested for attempting to set Tema Market on Fire

Two suspects have been arrested for allegedly attempting to set fire to a portion of the Tema main market on Thursday.

They are Florence Adom Ansah, 42, and her brother, Aaron Adom Ansah, 39.That portion of the market, noted for the sale of assorted items, from books to clothing items and mobile phones, is also located close to a filling station.

Items retrieved from the suspects at the scene included a gallon of petrol, an electric heater plugged at the time of the fire, burnt papers and heaps of books.

The Tema Metropolitan Fire Officer, Mr William Abeka Blankson, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the Tema Fire Station received a distress call about a fire outbreak at the market about 3.20 p.m. on Thursday.

He said when fire service personnel arrived at the scene, onlookers had forced open a locked shop where the fire had started and made efforts to put it out.

Mr Blankson said some traders and passers-by who had reached the scene earlier informed the fire personnel that they had seen thick smoke coming from a container about 3 p.m.

He said the container, which was locked at the time, was forced open to enable the Good Samaritans to put out the fire.

According to Mr Blankson, the picture painted indicated that a woman had been seen selling some items in front of the shop shortly before the fire started.

He said when the fire personnel further inspected the shop, they saw that heaps of books and pieces of paper had been put on a chair, with a plugged water heater left on the books and the pieces of paper, while a gallon of petrol had been placed under the chair.

Mr Blankson explained that before the owners of the shop left the market, there was power outage, but when power was restored, the heater ignited the papers and the books, which led to fire in the shop.

The fire could have spread to other shops because of the presence of petrol in the shop.

He said the items retrieved had been handed over to the police.

The acting Community One Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Victor Amedekey, said police investigations into the incident led to the arrest of the two suspects who operated the shop.

The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Kempes Ofosuware, who was at the scene, commended the traders, passers-by and the security personnel of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly for acting promptly to put out the fire while alerting the fire office.

Another alleged attempt to set fire to the market on Tuesday, July 2, 2013, was foiled by the TMA security personnel, but no arrests were made. Meanwhile, the police are guarding the market.