Fire officers injured as Potsin Junction tanker explodes a second time in terrifying reignition

What began as a dangerous but manageable fuel tanker fire at Potsin Junction has descended into a prolonged and life-threatening emergency, after the stricken vehicle erupted in a second explosion on Tuesday morning, injuring two Ghana National Fire Service officers who were in the direct path of the blast.

The initial emergency had begun at approximately 5:30 a.m. on March 17, when the tanker caught fire on the Kasoa-Winneba Road in the Central Region. Emergency teams were working to bring the situation under control when the vessel, which had appeared to be stabilising, suddenly reignited with devastating force.

Eyewitnesses described a scene of terrifying speed and violence.

“There was a spark from the tanker… within a second, all of us nearly died,” one survivor recounted, capturing the near-instantaneous transformation from a contained operation into a crisis that sent those around it scrambling for their lives.

The two fire officers caught in the secondary explosion were actively suppressing the flames at the time of the blast. The impact was severe enough to hurl one officer from the fire tender entirely, he had reportedly been standing atop the vehicle when the explosion occurred, and the force of the detonation threw him to the ground. Both injured officers were rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment. As of the time of reporting, no fatalities have been officially confirmed.

The reignition has thrown the surrounding community into a state of shock. Several residents were reportedly shaken and unaccounted for in the immediate chaos that followed the second blast, and the full extent of property damage, as well as the number of people affected by the smoke and intense heat, is yet to be fully assessed.

As emergency teams fought to contain the situation, Adom News Central Regional Correspondent Kofi Adjei delivered a stark update from the ground: “As I speak to you now, the tanker is burning again”, a live reminder that the threat had not passed and that firefighters were still contending with a volatile and unpredictable blaze.

The Ghana National Fire Service has dispatched additional reinforcements from neighboring stations to bolster containment efforts and ensure the tanker is thoroughly cooled, a critical step aimed at preventing a third explosion and allowing teams to finally bring the situation under definitive control.

The Potsin Junction area remains cordoned off, and motorists on the Kasoa-Winneba stretch are being urged to exercise extreme caution or seek alternative routes as emergency personnel maintain a heavy presence at the scene.

The ordeal has underscored the extreme dangers faced by fire service personnel responding to fuel tanker emergencies, where the risk of reignition can turn a controlled operation into catastrophe in an instant.