By Deborah Apetorgbor, GNA
Accra, Nov. 27, GNA – The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has organised a fire safety education programme at the Kaneshie market to increase awareness on fire safety and prevention.
The event formed part of the GNFS fire safety campaign geared toward educating citizens on the occurrence of fires especially during the period from November to February.
Mr Ebenezer Simpson, the Greater Accra Regional Fire Commander, said available statistics at the Service, indicates that this period usually records an increase in fire incidences due to the harmattan and the rush in activities during the festivities.
He said this has prompted the Service to embark on fire education campaigns in various communities to equip the people with the requisite knowledge on ways to prevent and control fires.
Mr Simpson said the education was very necessary as currently 44 per cent of recorded fires occurred in homes and could have been prevented if the occupants had the knowledge on how to prevent them.
Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, the Chief Fire Officer, in a speech read on his behalf, said ‘it is the aim of the GNFS that every Ghanaian is safe from fires and its consequential effects.’
He said fire safety is a shared responsibility and ‘it is incumbent upon all to cooperate with the GNFS to ensure that businesses and properties as well as human lives are protected at all times from undesired fires’.
Dr Gaisie said in Accra, an average of two fires are recorded every night and this is as a result of either carelessness or improper handling of electrical gadgets, hence, ‘the more reason why we have to embark on this campaign’.
The Chief Fire Officer called on all businesses, schools, and other stakeholders to ’embrace the culture of fire safety so as to safeguard lives and property.’
An all-female fire education team staged a performance on fire-fighting in the market place and proceeded with a demonstration on how to use various fire safety equipment such as the fire blanket and the extinguisher.
The team explained the concepts of fire safety to the gathering and underscored the essence of ensuring that all electrical gadgets are handled with care and optimum precautions are observed during cooking at home.
Nii Ayitey Kaneshie I, Mantse of Kaneshie, urged the public to observe and practice all that they had been taught by the fire education team.
Present at the function were District Fire Officers, representatives of the Prisons Service, GPRTU, Kantamanto Traders Association, Kaneshie Market Association, Fire Officers’ Wives Association and students from the Kaneshie Bishop JHS.
GNA
