Panic and heartbreak struck Nkawkaw on the night of Wednesday, June 11, 2025, when a fierce fire gutted a multi-room house and a shop at Oseikrom Zaragoza, a suburb in the Kwahu West Municipality. While the fire left several residents homeless, no casualties were reported.
Eyewitness accounts shared with Nk Promo revealed that the blaze began around 8:50 p.m., allegedly triggered by a gas cylinder mishap. A resident attempting to fix the faulty cylinder is believed to have fallen with it, sparking a powerful explosion that set the house ablaze.
One heart-wrenching scene described by locals was that of a terrified mother fleeing with her children—completely unclothed—as she scrambled to safety. “She had no time to grab anything. Just ran with the kids. I stayed back to help others,” a witness told Nk Promo.
Emergency response was complicated by poor road conditions. The Nkawkaw Fire Service’s vehicle couldn’t get close to the scene due to inaccessible pathways. The situation worsened as backup from the Mpraeso Fire Station also struggled to reach the burning house, blocked by sand dumped in the middle of the road and an illegally constructed structure.
Frustrations ran high as youth at the scene clashed with fire personnel, leading to verbal and physical altercations. Community members eventually stepped in to de-escalate the tension.
In an unexpected turn, the Nkawkaw fire tender almost caught fire during the operation. While initial reports suggested youth interference, a driver on site clarified that the truck’s hot exhaust ignited some charcoal spread on the rough road to aid mobility.
Despite the chaos and access issues, firefighters from both Nkawkaw and Mpraeso managed to bring the fire under control by midnight. Kwahu West Municipal Fire Commander, Mr. Samuel Mantey, was on-site to assess the damage and support the fire teams.
Though lives were spared, the damage was extensive. The affected house, said to contain at least six or seven rooms, along with a shop, was completely destroyed—leaving residents, including the landlady, without a place to sleep.