The Brong-Ahafo Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has recorded GHc4,445,048.00 worth of properties destroyed by fire from January to May 2018.
Assistant Division Officer One (ADO1), Ruth Mensah-Tandoh, the Regional Fire Public Relations Officer (PRO), who revealed this in an interview said the situation resulted from an increase in domestic fires in the early part of this year.
She said the Command recorded the highest damage of properties valued at Gh¢4,301,657.55 in the first two months of 2018, with Gh¢2,979,176.55 and Gh¢1,322,481.00 in February and January respectively, as against the total of Gh¢1, 898,275.00 in the whole of 2017.
This, she noted was an indication of more than 100 percent rise in fire cases even before the middle of the year.
ADO1 Mensah-Tandoh expressed worry that even though there had not been any loss of life, the rate at which fire incidents had occurred in the region was alarming.
She cited an increase in uses of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and improper storage of cylinders, as well as the illegal electricity connections in homes, as some of the leading causes of domestic fires according to the Command’s findings.
ADO1 Mensah-Tandoh emphasized that some people kept filled gas cylinders in their bedrooms which were very dangerous since it acted as fire accelerant anytime there is little ignition.
“Gas cylinders are not supposed to be kept in bedrooms, it must always be in the open space,” she stressed.
ADO1 Mensah-Tandoh advised the general public to take fire education by the Fire Service seriously and be mindful of the way LPG gas is handled and used in their homes to avoid the loss of lives and properties to fire.
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Source: GNA
