Anger in Fire Service over shortage of essential firefighting chemical

Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) are praying that the nation should not face any further inferno, as disturbing as happened on June 3, 2015 soon, because essential chemicals to help them manage a similar disaster is in short supply.

Apart from the prayer, the GNFS is angry that the shortage of the all-important chemical was long known by the Services' top men.

The chemical, simply called ‘foam compound’, experts within the GNFS believed, if had been used during the Nkrumah Circle GOIL inferno, things would have been favourably different.

They intimate that, should a fire breakout occur today, the GNFS personnel would not be motivated enough to rush to the scene, as their hands are tied behind them.

The Inquisitor was told that “for now, the Central Stores of the GNFS does not have a single drum of the foam compound.

Insiders at the GNFS who are angry with the situation told the paper that the Tema area, which is fire prone because of its peculiar nature as an industrial hub, requires some 250 drums of the foam compound, but has only one drum.

According to them, the GNFS has now resorted to calling regional offices to send in foam compounds to Accra: A situation described as nauseating.

The insiders say that the whole Greater Accra region has no foam compound for use in case of a fire outbreak in the capital and its surrounding areas.

“The headquarters of the GNFS is calling for foam compound from the Eastern and Upper West Regions,”; they disclosed.

Interestingly, the service is now looking for a cargo to load the few drums that are coming from the Upper East region.

The insiders made it clear to The Inquisitor that the anger of the personnel is based on the fact that, the top management of the service, especially the Chief Fire Officer, was fully aware of the vexed situation.

“The Chief Fire Officer being part of us should know the import of the foam compound chemical and, that alone should inform him to do the right thing,” the insiders said.

They told the paper after a lengthy meeting at the GNFS headquarters in Accra, that the Kwame Nkrumah Circle inferno could have been controlled to a better level, if foam compound had been applied in that operation.

“As at now, all that we are doing is praying that there should not be any major fire outbreak; because, if a serious fire outbreak should occur somewhere, it will be disastrous,” they said.

A background check on the foam compound revealed it is mainly produced in India, and that is where a number of countries, including the USA, Britain, Egypt, among others, get their supply.

Because of its importance in fire-fighting, producers are always in deficit as various countries demand the chemical in huge quantities.

Hitherto, Egypt was producing foam compound, but that company had to close down because of political unrest in the country.