GNFS urged to arrest and prosecute fire offenders

The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has been urged to do everything to arrest and prosecute people whose recklessness leads to fire disasters.

Mr Denis Opoku Gyamfi, President of the Burn Survivors Foundation, a Kumasi-based NGO dedicated to the promotion of the welfare of burns survivors, said it was time such offenders were made to pay for their acts of neglect and irresponsibility.

He said although the GNFS had been creating awareness and educating people on fire safety and prevention, it should go beyond this and seek justice for victims.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi on Tuesday, he blamed most of the fires and their destruction to life and property on sheer negligence and careless handling of gas and other combustible materials in homes and public places.

He made reference to a recent incident in Kumasi, where a woman suffered severe burns as a result of a leakage from a gas cylinder in a taxi.

There was another instance when some people who had gone to buy fried eggs by the road side, sustained burns when the gas cylinder suddenly exploded and caught fire.

Mr Gyamfi expressed discomfort with the haphazard sitting of gas filling stations in residential and unapproved areas and said these posed danger to the people and that owners of such businesses must not be allowed to go unpunished in the event of a fire disaster.