There are no immediate clues on what might have caused the Friday fire incident at the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) office in Buipe, officials have said.
They would neither confirm nor rule out possibilities of terrorists plot or planned burning in yesterday’s inferno at its vehicular port in Buipe.
The Savannah Regional Ghana National Fire Service Commander, Mr Kwesi Baffour-Awuah, said the service could not immediately confirm if the inferno had terrorists connection because it had just begun its preliminary investigations less than a day after fire gutted supply tankers at vehicular port at BOST in Buipe.
However, Mr Yaw Antwi-Dadzie, Government Relations Manager at BOST who spoke in an interview at Buipe said a committee has been set up to commence investigations into the accident to ascertain the true cause of the fire that burnt down three tankers completely and partially burnt a fourth one.
Mr Antwi-Dadzie said the committee comprised of the Ghana National Fire Service, the technical depot staff, drivers of the vehicles involved and their mates and the Health, Safety, Security Environment and quality unit of BOST.
The General Manager in charge of Corporate Communications and External Affairs at BOST, Mr Marlick Adjei, who confirmed the setting up of the Committee in an interview with the GNA said the terms of reference was to ascertain why the vehicles had loaded products and were still parked at the port.
The committee he indicated would further look at whether all safety formalities were met, and to drew conclusions and make the necessary recommendations for action.
He indicated that for now, the police would not be invited to be part of the committee and said the police would only come in when the report indicts criminal act.
Three persons were injured during the accident. One has been discharged from the Buipe Polyclinic, one still on admission with visible signs of inflammations while the third one was transferred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
Three of the vehicles contained petroleum products while the other one was empty.
Mr Kofi Owusu Appiah, Manager, Safety, Health, Security, Environment and Quality at BOST said the GNFS had been directed to blanket the residual products from the burnt vehicles to cut off oxygen from the residual as part of measures to preempt further damage.
Earlier this morning, the Savannah Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Adam Braimah, visited the accident scene to ascertain the degree of the accident and to comfort the victims.
Malfunctioning fire tender
Meanwhile, investigations have revealed that fire tender equipment assigned to the Buipe District Ghana Fire Service office has not been functioning more than three months now.
The fire men and women called to extinguish the fire on the night of the BOST incident, initially relied on fire extinguishers to douse off the fire.
The Savannah Regional Commander of the Ghana Fire Service, Kwesi Baffour-Awuah who confirmed this in an interview in Buipe on December 4, 2020 said the service later took re-enforcements from BOST water hydrants and three Fire Tenders from Tamale and Damango to extinguish the fire which burnt down three tankers completely and one partially.
Besides, one of the three persons who sustained various degrees of injuries has also been discharged from the Buipe Polyclinic leaving one in the same hospital, while the third victim who sustained major burns was rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
Officials of BOST have arrived from the national capital, Accra, to assess the impact of the accident and present the necessary report for action.
