A fire outbreak at the Asankragua Main Market in the Amenfi West Municipality of the Western Region has razed down four stores.

The incident which happened on Friday night also consumed other properties worth thousands of cedis.

The inferno, according to eyewitnesses, started around 11 pm but got out of hand following several unanswered calls to the Ghana National Fire Service.

Some residents reported that the officers of the Service in the municipality looked on helplessly as the fire kept burning the stores as a result of a broken-down fire tender for the past six months.

The youth in the area intervened and brought the fire under control after two hours.

“When we called the fire Service, they told us that their fire tender had broken down. Can you imagine that an entire Municipal assembly does not have a fire tender?

"So we the young men here including myself had to take it upon ourselves to douse the fire,” one resident told JoyNews.

Another added, “I am really impressed with the contribution of everyone. We did our best to put out the fire. But I entreat our leaders to fix our fire tenders because next time, we may not be this lucky.”

On his part, the District Officer Grade One of the Ghana Fire Service in the Municipality, Justice Agyee confirming their inability to bring the fire under control said there was nothing his outfit could do without a fire tender.