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Three separate fire outbreaks hit Kumasi and Accra early yesterday, affecting the livelihoods of about 2,000 traders at the Kumasi Central Market and leaving two people dead in Accra. The first of the two fires which occurred in Accra resulted in the death of a mother and her son at Nungua, while the second fire burnt a one-storey building at the plush Trasacco Valley. The two have been identified as Comfort Osei, 17, and her one-and-a-half year old son, Adotey Akun. Her husband, Seth Adotey, is responding to treatment at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH). The three were sleeping in wooden structure when fire swept through the structure, destroying household items including a sound system, DVD players, stuffed chairs and compact discs. The cause of the fire is yet to be established, but neighbours suspected an electrical fault.In the second incident, a five-bedroom one-storey building at the Trasacco Valley was gutted by fire at about 7 :30 a.m yesterday. There was no casuality. In the fire outbreak in Kumasi, widely seen as the biggest fire outbreak in the sprawling Kumasi Central Market, hundreds of stores and stalls, as well as large merchandise were consumed in the inferno. The fire spread across a vast area where second-hand clothing and other wares were sold.It was the second fire outbreak to hit the 77-year-old market, considered the largest open market in West Africa, in four months and the sixth in five years. The incident happened as a team of forensic investigation experts from the United States of America (USA) that arrived in the country last week continued their investigations to unravel the mystery behind the recent fire disasters in the country. The team has been working on the market fires in Accra and it is not known whether they will extend their work to Kumasi. Authorities in Kumasi were unable to estimate the damage by the latest fire outbreak but it could run into millions of Ghana cedis. It was not immediately known whether there was any casualty since the fire was still burning at press time, sending plumes of black smoke into the air. Unconfirmed reports, however, indicated that a watchman inside the market suffered some burns and was rushed to hospital. Crew from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were at the scene, working to prevent the blaze from spreading to other sections of the market when the reporter went to the scene. At least 10 fire engines battled the fire but it raged on but for hours because fire personnel could not get access to the burning section due to the haphazard development in the market. Fire personnel could not conjecture the cause of the fire. Thousands of people converged on roads close to the site. Among them were tearful traders who watched in agony as their wares continued burning and a Total Filling Station was protected to prevent it from the blaze. The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Augustine Gyening, was at the site moments after the fire started, with about 300 men and women drawn from various police stations in Kumasi, to prevent looting and ensure the safety of lives. They barricaded the entrances to the burnt section even when some shop owners whose area of operation was not affected attempted to force their way into their shops to collect their wares before the blaze spread to their shops. Also at the site was the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Yaw Adusei, who expressed shock at the incident. The Mayor of Kumasi, Mr Kojo Bonsu, had travelled outside the country, but other senior officials of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly were also present. An affected trader, Osei Boakye, who lost his shop, said he took a loan to run his business and wondered how he was going to repay that loan. Another woman who gave her name as Akyaa, said she stocked her shop with 20 bales of second-hand clothing on Saturday evening but all that had been burnt. The fire, according to eyewitnesses, started at about 2.15 am and minutes later, fire fighters arrived at the scene. They were, however, unable to get inside the market to battle the blaze. �I was asleep when I heard shouts of �the market is burning, the market is burning,� and I came out to see smoke coming out from where second-hand clothing is sold,� a young man aged about 25 years, who lived close to the market said. After years of unfulfilled promises by previous governments, the current government of Ghana had made a firm promise to reconstruct the market built by the British colonial administration in 1936 into a modern facility. The project, which is expected to start this year, is a collaborative venture between the Ghana Government and the Brazilian Government, but the Brazilian contractors want a sovereign guarantee from Ghana before they fully commit themselves to the work. Last Wednesday, June 12, 2013, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Kwasi Oppong Fosu; the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, and the Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Irene Galla, as well as contractors for the project (from Brazil), were at the Manhyia Palace to show a conceptual design of the project to the Asantehene. Fire outbreaks have become rampant in the country since the beginning of the year. Statistics from the Ghana National Fire Service indicate that 2,201 outbreaks have been recorded nation-wide from January to April this year. Some of the major fire outbreaks recorded so far occurred at the Kantamanto Market, Makola Number Two Market, the Makola Shopping Mall and the Agbogbloshie Market, all in Accra. The others include Kumasi Magazine and Kumasi Central Market. Worried about the spate of fire outbreaks, the government has invited a team of experts from the United States of America (USA) to help unravel the causes of the fire outbreaks. While the team is yet to complete its work, the government has set up a GH�2million fund to provide assistance to those affected by the fire outbreaks in Accra.