Fire authorities in the Ashanti Region are contemplating legal action against property owners whose buildings have no fire certificates. The Ghana National Fire Service has revealed GHS 11 million worth of property was lost to fire in Kumasi alone in the first quarter of this year. Also, 477 incidents of fire were recorded in the region in the first three months of this year, from 379 over the same period last year. Erastus Asare Donkor of Luv FM said over GHS 24,723 worth of properties have been destroyed, and many people have been displaced and jobs lost. He said these revelations have prompted calls for investigations and action to curb the incidents of fire outbreaks in the area and residents are quick to cite the power outages as the cause of the fires. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)'s Public Relations Manager for Ashanti Region, Erasmus Kyere-Badu, said the assertion that the power cuts are a cause of the fires is wrong. According to him, most of the edifices in the region do not have the requisite fire-fighting facilities. He indicated that by the end of the second quarter of this year, ECG will begin closing down premises without the appropriate fire certificates. Erastus Asare Donkor spoke to the Regional Fire Safety Officer, Mr. David Sam Afful, who also disagrees with the assertion that the energy crisis is the cause of the fire problems. According to Mr David Afful, fire outbreaks in the business districts are caused by lack of proper energy audit on the buildings. He also indicated that very soon the Ghana National Fire Service will begin prosecuting people without appropriate fire-fighting facilities in the region.