Media urged to assist in fire safety education

Mr Edwin Ekow Blankson, the Acting Chief Fire Officer, Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), has called on the media to assist in a rigorous and continues public education on fire safety to reduce the spate of fire outbreaks in the country.

He said this was imperative to the GNFS because as at July 2018, they had recorded 3,801 fires, which constituted 9.7 per cent increase in outbreaks over last year.

The Chief Fire Officer (CFO) speaking at a press conference in Accra said this was very alarming because as at the end of July 2016, a total of 4,973 outbreaks was recorded, which saw a number of strategies put in place to ensure total fire safety for the protection of lives and properties across the country.

Due to this he said, in July 2017, the number of outbreaks reduced to 3,432 fires, which constituted 44.9 per cent reduction.

Mr Blankson said the current increase in the numbers called for a number of measures to be put in place as the country was yet to enter the dry season.

He said it was however, important that the media effectively educated the public on fire safety to ensure that these undesired fires are reduced.

“Fire safety was a shared responsibility and when all stakeholders play their effective roles we would be safe from undesired fires, he said.

The CFO said fire safety education had not been given the needed attention it deserves on a daily basis, adding that, investigations conducted into fire outbreaks continue to reveal negligence and carelessness as major causes of fires especially in homes.

He said a recent revelation by the Ghana Standards authority on the influx of substandard electrical products on the market was a huge cause for worry to the service as electrical fires are on the ascendancy in homes due to the choice of inferior electrical products over quality ones.

Mr Blankson said even though the GNFS had limited resources they would continue to design and disseminate effective fire prevention and safety information in all parts of across the country.

“We shall embark on door to door fire education campaign within the various communities in an attempt to drum home the message of fire safety. Fire commanders at all levels shall submit periodic reports to the CFO as a way of monitoring progress in the various regions,” he said.

The CFO, said fire safety messages will continue to be disseminated extensively through all media outlets, a Regional and District Fire Prevention and safety teams would as well be sent to organisations and public places to intensify the education.

He said a special task force had been formed to check on the fire safety status of all petrol and gas filling stations across the country, as well as patrol teams that would watch vital installations and high patronage public places to assist in fire prevention.

“What is more, is to ensure that all homes in the country are kept under some quantum of fire safety cover, LI 1724 (Fire Precaution Premises Regulation), 2003 has been amended, in addition to fire safety in homes.”

The amended LI 2249 of 2016 requires every home owner to provide the fire safety cover in the home, failure of which, will lead to prosecution and subsequent fine or imprisonment or both,” he stated.

He appealed to the media to help provide free air time and print space to personnel of the GNFS across the country for the dissemination of fire safety information to the public.

“So long as fires would continue to occur, it would be important that the media continually assist the GNFS to intensify education in the country,” he added.

Mr Blankson noted that the number of fires would reduce drastically when individuals observe fire safety and prevention standards and urged all to step up their observation of fire precaution and safety measures for a total fire safety.

He announced that in other to curb the rate of bushfires that have consumed most of the vegetative cover of the Savannah regions of the North, which was gradually progressing to the Brong Ahafo Region, the 2018/2019 National Anti-Bush Fire campaign would be launched in the region to create awareness to limit the occurrence.