Ghana National Fire Service institutes Fire Week

The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has instituted a National Fire Week in its effort to intensify education on fire prevention and management throughout the country.

The maiden event would be launched on April 27, 2015 and the week-long programme would be observed in all regional and district offices of the Service.

Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Albert Brown Gaisie, who disclosed this during a media encounter in Accra, said fire management was a shared responsibility and everybody needed to know something about fire assessment, prevention and management.

He said the media was one of the active stakeholders needed to understand the intricacies of the work of the Service so as to assist in educating the public.

“It is important that the media understands basic things about fire prevention and management to help them in their feature writing,” he said.

CFO Gaisie also announced that the Service, henceforth, would use May 1, every year, as an Open Day for the public and school children to know more about its work.

He said: “As a country, we don’t have to wait for the fires to occur before we find ways to mitigate the situation. Funds used for such measures could have been channelled into fire education to achieve a greater impact.

“As part of our education, fire officers will be visiting the various media houses to see fire safety measures they put in place to safeguard their employees and properties. We will also use the occasion to educate the staff on fire safety, prevention and management measures.

“I hope when we visit your organisations you will give us the necessary support to achieve the goals because we cannot afford to see you lose your gadgets and other machinery through fire outbreaks.”

CFO Gaisie also stressed the need for employers to observe occupational health safety practices, for which little attention was normally given to save lives and properties.

He, therefore, urged the media to show interest in fire management research and come out with educative feature articles for the public.

Deputy Chief Officer in charge of Research and Monitoring, Mr Kwame Kwarteng, urged the public to prepare Fire Safety Assessment Plan for their property and ensure that it was approved by the GNFS before putting up their property.

That, he said, would help curb fire outbreaks in the country.