Some residents of Cape Coast, the capital of Central Region have attributed the cause of a fire outbreak on Sunday morning to a rat hunt.

Narrating the incident to Adom News, Joseph Sewornu, a resident said a certain man had set fire very close to the ‘Nyame Ye Odomfo chop bar’ to catch a rat and after being confronted, he put out the fire and left.

However, two hours later, they saw the chop bar building engulfed by fire and spreading to other shops.

Sewornu noted that the fire destroyed numerous properties because the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) did not respond to the emergency on time. 

The head of the fire service team, however, denied the allegation of not responding on time.

He argued that the public must allow firemen to do their work when they report accident scenes adding that victims must call the Service on time so that they can save the situation.

“They shouldn't fight it on their own for it to get off hand before they call us,” he said.

He further added that an official investigation will be carried out to find the cause of the fire.

Speaking on behalf of her sister who lost her automobile shop to the fire, Gifty Doku said, the unfortunate incident will make life very difficult for her sister because her sister credits the items and pays later, so they do not know when she will stock the shop again.