A 77-year-old former Assembly Member for Nkawkaw Domeabra Electoral Area and his 11-year-old grandson lost their lives in a fire outbreak in the Assembly member’s house at Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region.

The former Assembly Member, Sammy Simpe and his grandson Kwame Sarpong died when fire engulfed their two bedroom apartment at Domeabra, a suburb of Nkawkaw Municipality, while his wife Madam Martha Ofori Simpe, aged 75 sustained serious burns on her body and is on admission at Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital.

Briefing the Ghana News Agency, the Kwahu West Municipal Fire Officer, Divisional Officer Grade 3, Kofi Agbetorsu, said a policeman drove to the Fire Station to report the fire outbreak in a house at Domeabra at 9:45pm last Tuesday.

He said the Fire Service staff mobilized themselves with their fire tender to the scene at Domeabra within six minutes where they saw the whole apartment in flames and heard the woman screaming for help while they tried to put off the fire with the assistance of youths in the area.

Mr Agbetorsu said they broke a window and pulled out Madam Simpe from the flames as the only entrance to the building was locked with burglar proof.

The Municipal Fire Officer said, after putting off the fire, he saw the late Simpi and his grandson, Kwame Sarpong totally burnt and the police had to send the corpses to Agyarkwa Private Hospital Mortuary.

Mr Agbetorsu appealed for logistics and material assistance to the fire station to help control fire outbreaks and bush fires at the Kwahu areas as there was only one fire tender serving the whole Kwahu West Municipality, Kwahu South and East Districts.

He said there was no fire hydrant in the Nkawkaw town and had to rush to the Water Company pumping station at Adoagyiri to refill the tender to continue to put out the fire.

The Divisional Officer noted that, the Kwahu West Municipal Fire Station had recorded 24 fire incidents in the Kwahu area since the beginning of the year, made up of six domestic fires, seven bush fires, three vehicular fires where eight vehicles got burnt and two industrial fires which resulted in large number of personal effects being destroyed.