Smoking is number one cause of fire outbreaks

Bongo (U/E), Aug 24, GNA - Seventy-five per cent of fire outbreaks in the country are caused by smoking, 15 per cent out of ignorance and 10 per cent out of accidents.

The Upper East Deputy Regional Commander of Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Mr Johnson Abu made this known at a day's workshop organized by the Bongo District GNFS with sponsorship from World Vision Ghana, to sensitise people in the District on how to control the outbreak of fire.

He cautioned people, who smoked while in bed, to desist from the practice emphasizing that it was one major cause of domestic fire outbreak.

Mr Abu entreated the people to switch off their electrical gadgets after using them or when going to work.

He further appealed to Ghanaians, especially those operating in the hospitality industry to always include fire safety measures in their building plans, citing fire exit points and fire extinguishers as some examples.

He said under the Act 537 people who wanted to build were supposed to obtain Fire Safety Certificate from the GNFS before building. Mr Abu said GNFS would in collaboration with the Police Service mount an exercise to ensure that people especially those in the hospitality industry included fire safety measures in their buildings. The Bongo District Commander of GNFS, Mr Peter Akansaare appealed to the District Assembly to relocate the Fire Station at a strategic point to enable it to discharge its duties effectively.

Mr Akansaare expressed regret that out of the 27 Fire Officers posted to the District, only two had been given accommodation. The rest, he noted, had to travel from Bolgatanga to Bongo, a distance of about 14 kilometres daily. This he said affected the discharge of duties. He explained that the Fire Engine in the District was the oldest in the country, which needed to be changed to enable the Station to discharge its duties efficiently.

Participants were taken through topics such as how to control fire outbreak in homes and workplaces.

The participants called on the Town and Country Planning Department to enforce existing laws and to ensure that people obeyed building regulations to give personnel of the Service easy access in case of fire outbreak. 24 Aug. 06