A blazing fire swept through a welding shop at Agric Kokode, near Kumasi, burning 12 vehicles, on the evening of Wednesday.
The incident was said to have been triggered off after a fire from a nearby mechanic shop extended to the shop where the cars were being worked on.
Among the vehicles destroyed by the fire were, Range Rover, Toyota Tundra, two Jeeps and three Toyota Highlanders.
According to the owner of the shop, Seidu Abdulai, the fire could have been stopped, if personnel of the Ghana Fire Service at Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and Komfo Anokye had responded on time.
Estimating the cost of damage, the cars including his working equipment, to about GH₵1 million, he called on the government to come to his aid in order to rebuild the shop.
The Assemblyman for the area, Wilson Sackey, urged the workers to desist from burning refuse which they have dumped close to the shop, where the fire started from.
He said he had, on many occasions, asked the workers to stop dumping refuse and burning them to avoid any disaster, but they would not heed to.
He was convinced the fire might have spread from the refuse dump.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI