Ashanti records 392 fires outbreaks for first half of year

Kumasi, July 14, GNA - The Ashanti Region recorded 392 fire outbreaks for the first half of this year in which property worth about 33.7 billion cedis was destroyed.

Mr Franklin Masiku, Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), who disclosed this, said out of the figure, 191 were domestic fires, 68 bushfires, 41 industrial fires, 22 commercial fires, 16 electrical fires, two institutional fires and 11 others.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Wednesday, he said the fire outbreak at the Kumasi Central Market alone destroyed property worth over 15.6 billion cedis.

Mr Masiku attributed the increase and continuous fire outbreaks to ignorance and illiteracy on the part of people and called for attitudinal change on issues concerning fire. He said the Service had embarked upon fire sensitisation in basic schools and had targeted all the 204 basic schools in the Kumasi metropolis as a means of sending the message of proper fire prevention and control to all residents.

Mr Masiku urged companies and industrial concerns to employ safety officers in their establishments to ensure the proper safety of their companies.

He also asked traders in the markets to form vigilante groups that would ensure that naked lights and electrical appliances were put out before leaving for their homes.

Mr Obeng Darkwa Dwamena, Ashanti Regional Fire Officer, called for co-operation between the public and the Service to help bring fire cases in the metropolis under control.