Some faulty cars sent to mechanic shops for repairs by their owners were nearly torched at the Suame Magazine in Kumasi on Saturday.

Eventually, the situation triggered fire in the area which burnt 14 shops into ashes, according to eyewitnesses.

Items such as vehicle spare parts, refrigerators, clothes and other belongings of the affected artisans were also consumed by the fire.

But for the timely intervention of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), the fire could have destroyed more shops at Suame Magazine.

Kwaku Boateng, an eyewitness, disclosed that the artisans were busily working around 5pm on Saturday when they saw smoke from one of the shops. Before they could move in to see what was amiss, the thick smoke suddenly turned into an inferno which started spreading very fast.

The artisans did whatever they could in order to bring the blaze under control, but they could not quench the fire.

Officials of the GNFS were eventually called and they moved in swiftly and managed to bring the blaze under control. The firefighters did a yeoman’s job as they put their lives on the line.

Meanwhile, what triggered the fire was not immediately known but eyewitnesses did not rule out an electrical fault as the possible cause of the blaze.

DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the GNFS has begun investigations to help unearth the cause of the fire outbreak.