Call Fire Service first in case of accident - Atenga

Accra, Oct. 23, GNA - Mr Emmanuel Atenga, Acting National Chief Fire Officer, on Thursday advised the public to call the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) first in case of a motor accident.

He said the tendency to call the Police first was wrong since they did not have the equipment to remove victims from mangled vehicles, adding that the GNFS had a Rescue Unit that was trained for the purpose.

Mr Atenga said this during a familiarization tour of the Ghana News Agency as part of his visit to various media houses in Accra to appraise fire fighting needs and security at workplaces.

He explained that it was necessary to call in the Police to protect the property of the victims from being looted and that was about all they could do under such circumstances.

Mr Atenga cited an instance when a bus conductor was trapped between a tree and his bus in an accident on the Tumu - Navrongo road and when the Police was called in they only went and took away the conductor's bag. They had to call in GNFS, who went to scene with a chainsaw to fell the tree to rescue the conductor.

He said GNFS was ever prepared to attend to emergencies and corrected the widely held view that they sometimes went to fire scenes without water.

He explained that the fire tenders were capable of dispensing 4,546 litres (1,000 gallons) of water in three to four minutes and this accounted for the wrong perception.