Public asked to handle naked fires cautiously

THE Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has urged the general public to be cautious when handling naked fires and electrical equipment during this harmattan season.
It said the intensity of the harmattan this season had increased, as a result “we are beginning to experience a lot more fires than we usually do during these periods”.
The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the service, DOIII Timothy Osafo-Affum, who made the appeal in Accra yesterday, disclosed that the GNFS sub-station at the headquarters, for instance, had responded to about 10 fires in just the last one week against an average of three to five fires per week.
Among the 10 was the recent fire at the residence of the renowned Gynaecologist, Dr Victor Kumoji, who died under circumstances still under investigations by the GNFS.
DOIII Osafu-Affum, therefore, advised the general public to be careful when dealing with naked fire or the way they handled activities that could possibly lead to fire disaster.
That, he said, was because “some of the things we used to do that do not lead to fire outbreaks could now result in fire outbreaks”.
For instance, he said smokers who left cigarette butts or any combustible material anywhere could easily start fires.
“This is because the setting in of the harmattan absorbs the moisture content in these flammable materials, thus increasing their ignition temperature”, he explained.
He, however, expressed worry over instances where some people always attempted to extinguish fires before calling them, noting that “it is not advisable at all, because most often, before we get to the scene, the harm has already been done”.
He, therefore, urged the general public not to hesitate to call them on their emergency line “192 or 772446” to enable them to respond quickly to disasters.
He also urged leaders of the various major market centres to act cautiously in order to avoid disasters this year.