Fire volunteerism, solution to fire prevention - Fire Service

Sefwi-Juaboso (WR), Jan. 28, GNA - The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has stated that the formation and adoption of fire volunteer concept by various farming communities would help prevent frequent fire outbreaks.

It said members of fire volunteer groups mostly live within the communities and knew location of farms therefore they respond promptly to any fire incident and help mitigate the spread.

Against this backdrop, Mrs. Georgina Agyare-Kwabi, Deputy Director of Rural Fire Department of the GNFS, has tasked various farming communities in the country to constitute fire volunteer groups, in order to augment the efforts of the GNFS personnel to combat fire occurrence.

Addressing some fire volunteers in the Juaboso District of the Western Region at Sefwi-Juaboso, on Thursday, during an anti-bushfire campaign, Mrs. Agyare-Kwabi , pledged the Service’s commitment to provide the necessary logistics to enhance the work of the volunteers.

She said the Bushfire legislature, PNDCL 229 of 1993, required anyone burning his/her farm to inform the fire volunteers to supervise it and afterwards beneficiaries pay fees to them, in order to sustain their activities.

However, those who decline to comply with the law would be arrested and fined to serve as a deterrent to others.

She said the President directed the GNFS National Anti-bushfire Taskforce to visit all the 10 regions, to intensify education on fire safety regulations following the increase in fire cases across the country.

The Deputy Director of Rural Fire noted that the recurrent fire incidents could have consequential effects on the country’s food security therefore all stakeholders, including chiefs, assembly members and all well-meaning Ghanaians must join the crusade to combat the menace.

“We are also here to assess the fire volunteer groups in the region to ascertain those who are active and those that are dormant so that we can find a meaningful way to revamp them,” she said.

Divisional Officer Grade one James Emmanuel Quao, who is also the Deputy Regional Fire Commander, appealed to various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to support to the fire volunteers to ensure efficient and effective delivery.

He asked the Juaboso District Assembly to assist the District Fire Station to complete a structure, in order to accommodate a fire tender allocated to the District.

He said the 1983 famine that Ghana experienced could be attributed to recurrent fire outbreaks and therefore called for collective efforts to prevent such a phenomenon from re-occurring.

During an open forum, the Leader of the District Fire Volunteer squad, Mr. Joseph Manso enumerated a number of items they needed to ensure efficiency in their work.

They included wellington boots, cutlasses, rain coats, motorbikes, identity cards and mobile phones.

The Chief of Sefwi-Juaboso, Nana Kwasi Mensah II, pledged the support and cooperation of the traditional authorities to help combat the fire outbreaks being experienced in the country.

Earlier, Mr. Patrick Aparik, the District Coordinating Director, stated that the District was one of the leading producers of cocoa and other food crops in the country therefore uncontrolled bushfires could have devastating effects on the country’s future food supply.

He said although the District was financially constrained due to inadequate internally-generated funds, however, it would manage to contribute its widow’s mites towards curbing the fire incidents in the area.

GNA

Report identifies operational lapses at of Central Medical Stores (Full Report Attached)

Accra, Jan. 30, GNA - Administrative and operational lapses has been identified as one of the causes for the theft and massive fraud at the Central Medical Stores (CMS), which led to an outbreak of fire at the premises, destroying evidence.

 

  Government has directed the Minister of Health, with the assistance of experts and consultants, to undertake a thorough re-organisation and restructuring of the CMS including its systems, operations and existing checks and balances, if any.

    At a news conference in Accra on Friday, to throw light on the report, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Marietta-Brew-Appiah-Opong said the fraud in procurement and allocation to health institution and their imminent discovery by the planned investigation and audit provided the motive for the sponsorship of the arson.

   According to the report the arsonist Samuel Dogbe, a labourer at CMS is currently at large and is been sought after by security agencies.

    The report said the re-organisation and restructuring exercise should ensure that future supplies to CMS should be properly documented and stored; tight control measures should be adopted for monitoring allocation of supplies to outside bodies; and similar measures should be instituted for supplies belonging to outside organisations that store products at CMS.

   The report recommended measures to minimise the incidence of the procurement of expired drugs and other medical items.

    It said the submission of the Procurement Unit of the CMS to due diligence in the procurement of drugs, in line with the needs of medical stores, should be done to avoid excessive storage of particular drugs;

    The report also recommended the supervision and control of inventory officers by heads of the CMS warehouses and the institution of schedule of delivery systems for the delivery of drugs;

    It also called for the strengthening of the internal audit unit/regime of the CMS to ensure constant monitoring of transaction at CMS.

    The re-assignment of the current management/middle level staff of the CMS, to enable a replacement of a new team of professional was also recommended.

    Government was also tasked to   direct the team working on the re-organisation and restructuring exercise to examine the possibility of decentralising the operations of the CMS, especially drug purchases, to the regional level in order to minimise the risk usually associated with such centralised operations and purchasing, and the type of loss that has occurred in this fire outbreak.

    The report said the current location of the CMS Facility in an industrial zone is not the best and called for the need for a well-defined/organised security regime including the installation of electronic access control and monitoring devices as well-designed warehouses with fireproof strong rooms for the storage of vital/emergency drugs and well-equipped fire station.

     The investigations established that the fire safety/prevention measure at CMS was evaluated by an expert company on April 14, 2014, and the company had established that the CMS had little fire-fighting capacity and was all times vulnerable to fire.

     The specific vulnerabilities had been detailed out in their report to management, but no action was taken to improve the CMS fire-safety and prevention measures.

     It said the Tema Metropolitan Assembly’s Public Health Department had on October 2, 2014, served a “notice of Abatement” under section 34 (1) of the Town Ordinance Cap. 86, warning the management of the CMS to stop accumulating and burning of refuse on the premises.

   The notice said not only did the officer who received the “Notice of Abatement” ignore it but challenged the capacity of the Assembly’s inspectors to issue the Notice.

    It however turned out, it was the incinerators on the premises of the CMS that appeared to have been used to start the fire the report and noted that Management instructions for action to be taken to stop the burning of refuse on the premises were ignored.

    The following officers of CMS were found culpable for the various lapses in fire prevention measures at the CMS:   Gifty Esi Mankartha – Principal Pharmacist/Warehouse Manager, Samuelson Tetteh – Head of Security and Harry Okwampah – Line Manager in charge of Information and Communication Technology.

   Government has therefore directed the Minister of Health to take appropriate disciplinary action against them.

    Government draws the attention of all state organisations to the following general recommendations on fire safety, contained in the report of the Chief Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), attached to the National Security’s investigation report and directs that they should be noted for strict compliance the report said.

   “It must be an automatic requirement for warehouses to have sprinklers that will detect and extinguish fires before the arrival of the Ghana Fire Service; Fire Safety Officers should be employed in all major health institutions and warehouses to enable them advise management on fire safety precautions and protective measures.”

     Due to the scarcity of water during such emergencies, boreholes must be installed or drilled at all state warehouses in future, to augment water for firefighting and urged warehouse owners and operators to seek expert guidance from the GNFS before and during the storage of hazardous materials, flammable liquids, solids and gases, explosives, oxidizers and other reactive materials.

GOVERNMENT STATEMENT ON THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIRE OUTBREAK AT THE CENTRAL MEDICAL STORES (CMS)

On 13th January, 2015, there was a fire outbreak at the Central Medical Store (CMS), Tema Industrial Area, in which a large stock of medical supplies and records were destroyed.

Investigations were conducted by National Security with the following objectives:

a. Identify the causes of the fire

b. Establish whether or not there was foul play;

c. If there was foul play, determine the person or persons involved;

d. establish the motivates of the person or person involved;

e. establish lapses, if any, in administrative procedures and fire safety measures that may have contribution to the fire outbreak.

2.0 Findings

2.1 it was established that the fire was deliberately set and that property damaged was worth millions of Ghana cedis. In all, five warehouses storing general pharmaceuticals, surgical/dressing material, stationary and other items were destroyed.

2.2 The suspected arsonist, one Samuel Dogbe, a labourer at CMS, is currently at large and is being sought for by the security agencies.

2.3 According to the report of national security, the fire was deliberately set to destroy evidence of theft and massive fraud and widespread regulations in the procurement and distribution of medical supplies involving senior management and junior staff. It is believed that “Samuel Dogbe was paid to set the fire in order to destroy the evidence.

2.4 The motive for the destruction of the evidence was the fact that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) had tasked to investigates the circumstances surrounding the expiration of large quantities of drugs and medical items at the CMS. A stock count of all medical consumables had also been slated for 13th January, 2015, to be used for an exhaustive audit of supplies made to the CMS and allocations to health institutions in 2014.
In other words, suspected irregularities and fraud in procurement and allocations to health institutions, and their imminent discovery by the planned investigations and audit , provided the motive for the sponsorship of the arson.

2.5 Among the irregularities and fraudulent activities in the procurement and allocations to health institutions revealed by the National Security Investigations were the following:

(a) Malaria Control Programme managers diverted large quantities of antimalarial drugs meant for public health institutions;

(b) The systems software for recording stock levels of medical supplies and keeping track of allocations was manipulated, rendering it ineffectual and facilitating massive diversion of medical items.

(c) Large quantities of Artemether Lumefantrine, an anti-malarial drug, were stolen or diverted and sold to entities in Nigeria and La Cote d’lvoire.

(d) Anti-malarial drugs were routinely diverted to non-existent Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs);

(e) Some drugs were falsely declared to be close to their date of expiration so that permission would be given for them to be taken out for destruction; these were then sold to private pharmacy shops after permission had been granted for them to be destroyed;

(f) Expired drugs, mostly anti-malarial medicines, from a private pharmacy shop were sometimes swapped for good drugs supplied to the CMS by the company;

(g) Fifty (50) boxes of assorted anti-malarial drugs were hoarded by two officers of the CMS who claimed that the CMS had completely ran out of those drugs;

(h) Following the discovery of widespread corruption in the sale of anti-malarial drugs, an embargo was placed on the sale of the drugs to private health institutions; however, an officer of the CMS evaded the directive and continued to make deliveries to private health institutions, false recording that those deliveries had been made to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital;

(i) Large quantities of pethidine, a highly-controlled narcotic drug, were stolen from the CMS and sold mostly to a pharmacist at the 37 Military Hospitals in Accra.

(j) Expired medical non-consumables items, including face masks and disinfectants, were regularly sold to private entities and the monies shared among the staff that facilitated the transaction;

(k) Supplies of medical commodities to the CMS were based on the issuance of acceptance certificates prepared by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) for payment; however, procurements were made and certificated of payment issued without any effort at cross-checking at CMS to establish whether the right drugs has been supplied and in the requested and allocations to health institutions.

2.6 The following officers of the CMS were identified by the National Security investigations as being part of a network at CMS responsible for the systemic theft of large quantities of medical supplies and irregularities in the procurement and allocations to health institutions:

a. Peter Ekow Gyimah – Former Head of CMS
b. Alhaji Yusif Inua – Member of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the CMS
c. Iddrisu Abdul-Karim – Acting Head of the CMS
d. Gifty Esi Mankartha – Principal Pharmacist/Warehouse Manager
e. Zeboat Doh – Warehouse Manager
f. Ibrahim Laryeah Amartey – Line Warehouse Manager/General Pharmaceuticals Unit
g. Kwame Foli – Warehouse Manager
h. Mathias Senaya – Warehouse Manager/General Pharmaceuticals
i. Victoria Anning – Senior Supply Officer/Project Stores
j. Abdul Karim
k. James Benjamin Annan – Pharmacist/System Analyst
l. Peter Atiba Addah – Storekeeper

3.2 Government has further directed the interdiction of all the above-named individuals until the final determination of their cases, subject to the provisions of Human Resource Management Policy Framework and Manual for the Ghana Public Services.

3.3 Government has also accepted the following modified recommendations in the investigations report:

a. A proper forensic audit should be carried out to unearth the extent to which consumables and non-consumable drugs were diverted. The exercise should cover the distribution of mosquito nets meant for distribution to the Volta Regional Medical Stores and District Health Institutions.

Government has directed the Minister of Health, in consultation with Auditor-General, to constitute a Special Audit Task Force to undertake the exercise. The Task Force should work under the auspices of the Auditor-General, using the framework of the Audit Service Act, 2000, Act 584.

b. A forensic audit should be carried out into a transaction between Volta Impex and the Ministry of Health. Information was gathered that an amount of five million cedis (GH¢5m) was paid to Volta Impex for the supply of two million (@) prescription forms to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2011, when the actual cost of the supply was Volta Impex supplied one hundred thousand (100,000) copies of the prescription form doctors in state-run hospitals/clinic declined to use it, describing the prescription form as deficient. All the one hundred thousand (100,000) copies of the form were destroyed in the fire. It was later detected that the Procurement Unit of the Ministry of Health shielded the wrongdoing.

Government has directed the same Special Audit Task Force to undertake this exercise.

The Special Audit Task force should work with the Police CID who will prepare dockets alongside the audit for possible prosecution of all those found culpable at the end of the two special audit exercises.

c. Government has directed the Police CID to declare Samuel Dogbe , the suspected arsonist , a “Wanted” Person and to take all necessary steps, including seeking the assistance of Interpol, to effect his arrest.

4.0 Structural, Administrative and Operational Set-up of the CMS

4.1 As a result of administrative and operational lapses identified at the CMS in the course of the National Security investigations, Government has directed the Minister of Health, with the assistance of experts and consultants, to undertake a thorough reorganization and restructuring of the CMS including its systems, operations and existing checks and balances, if any.

4.2 the re-organisation and restructuring exercise should take into account the following recommendations in the investigation report.
a. future supplies to CMS should be properly documented and stored; tight control measures should be adopted for monitoring allocation to supplies to outside bodies; and similar measures should be instituted for supplies belonging to outside organisations that store products at CMS;

b. measures to minimize the incidence of the procurement of expired drugs and other medical items’

c. the submission of the Procurement Unit of the CMS to due diligence in the procurement of drugs, in line with the needs of medical stores, to avoid excessive storage of particular drugs;

d. the supervision and control of inventory officers by Heads of the CMS warehouses;

e. the institution of scheduled delivery systems for the delivery of drugs’

f. a strengthening of the internal audit/regime of the CMS to ensure constant monitoring of transactions at CMS;

g. the re-assignment of the current management/middle level staff of the CMS, so that a new team of professionals can replace them.

4.3 Government also directs the team working on the re-organisation and restructuring exercise to examine the possibility of decentralizing the operations of the CMS, especially drug pruchases, to the regional level in order to minimize the risk usually associated with such centralized operations and purchasing, and the type of loss that has occurred in this fire outbreak.

4.4 in conducting the re-organisation and restructuring exercise, account should be taken of the following recommendations in the investigation report;

a. the current location of the CMS facility in an industrial zone is not the best;
b. the need for a well-defined/organized security regime including the installation of electronic access control and monitoring devises;

c. the need for well-designed warehouses with fireproof strong rooms for the storage of
vital/emergency drugs and a well-equipped fire station.

5.0 Lapses in Fire Prevention Measures

5.1.1 The investigations established that

a. The fire safety/prevention measures at CMS had been evaluated by an expert company on 14th April, 2014 and the company had established that the CMS had little fire-fighting capacity and was at all times vulnerable to fire, the specific vulnerable had been detailed out in their report to management, but no action was taken to improve the CMS’ fire-safety and prevention measures.

b. The Tema Metropolitan Assembly’s Public Department had on 2nd October, 2014, served a “Notice of Abatement” under section 34 (1) of the Town Ordinance, Cap, 86, warning the management of the CMS to stop accumulating and burning refuse on the promises; not only did the officer who received the ‘Notice of Abatement” ignore it, she challenged the capacity of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly inspectors to issue the Notice; as it turned out, it was the incinerators on the premises of the CMS that appeared to have been used to start the fire,

c. Management instructions for action to be taken to stop the burning of refuse on the CMS premises were ignored.

5.2 The following officers of CMS were found culpable for the various lapses in fire prevention measures at the CMS:

a. Gifty Esi Mankartha – Principal Pharmacist/Warehouse Manager;
b. Samuelson Tetteh – Head of Security;
c. Harry Okwampah – Line Manager in charge of Information and Communication Technology.

5.3 Government has directed the Minister of Health to take appropriate disciplinary action against the three named officers.

5.4 Government draws the attention of all state organisations to the following general recommendations on fire safety, contained in the report of the Chief Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, attached to the National Security’s investigation report and directs that they should be noted for strict compliance:

a. It must be an automatic requirement for warehouses to have sprinklers that will detect and extinguish fires before the arrival of the Ghana National Fire Service;

b. Fire Safety Officers should be employed in all major Health Institutions and Warehouses to enable them advice Management on fire safety precautions and protective measures;

c. Due to the scarcity of water during such emergencies, boreholes must be installed or drilled at al state warehouses in future, to augement water for firefighting;

d. Warehouse owners and operators should seek expert guidance from the Ghana National Fire Service before and during the storage of Hazardous Materials, Flammables Liquids, Solids and Gases, Explosives, Oxidizers and other Reactive Materials.


END OF REPORT

Source: allghananews.com

The fire raze down the two room boy’s dormitory, where most of the form two students are housed, as well as a few form three boys.

 
All personal effects including trunks, chop boxes, books learning materials, clothing and footwear’s belonging to the 146 students were lost in the fire.

Officials of the Ghana National Fire Service and the Electricity Company of Ghana are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire, which started in the afternoon, when students were haven a debate close to the gutted dormitory.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Headmistress of the School, Ms Amma Adu-Larbi said the affected students have been sent home.

Source: GNA

Central Region recorded a total of 604 fire outbreaks last year, claiming 17 lives with more than GH¢76,000 being the cost of damage to items and properties.

 
To reverse the trend therefore, the Regional GNFS on Friday launched the 2016 Fire Safety awareness campaign aimed at raising public awareness about the effects of undesired fires, methods for preventing fire outbreaks, and safety measures.

The campaign dubbed: “Operation let the People Hear,” saw the Regional Chief Fire Officer, Divisional Officer one (DOI) Gilbert Wiafe and his men troop to the streets in the Cape Coast Metropolis, heralding the role of the individuals in the prevention of undesired fires.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the Fire Officer stated that the education has become necessary due to the increasing rate of fire outbreaks especially bush fires in the Region.
DO1 Wiafe said personnel of the Service are fully psyched up to prevent and fight fires that are capable of ruining the huge investments as well as lives.

He identified negligence and irresponsible handling of fires by some residents as the most common cause of fire outbreaks recorded in the Region.
DO1 Wiafe charged them to be more vigilant adding that “fire safety in communities, domestic and industrial environment is of paramount importance”.

He urged the public to be very cautious and play their parts by ensuring that they handle fire with care and stop engaging in activities that would result in fire outbreaks
Areas covered were Abura, Pedu, Tsibu -Darko, Adisadel, Siwidu, Kotokuraba and London Bridge where residents gathered in their numbers to listen to the messages.

Source: GNA

Fire engulfs Unilever factory in Tema

 
Fire has ravaged through portions of the Unilever factory in Tema on Saturday afternoon destroying property running into hundreds of Ghana Cedis.

The cause of the fire is not immediately known but thick dark smoke was billowing from the factory and could be from a distance. Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service we managed to get to the scene on time and have been fighting the fire at the time of this story.

Police officers have also been deployed at the entrances of the Unilever factory to prevent onlookers from rushing into the factory to loot.

TV3's Josephine Frimpong who was at the scene of the fire reported that workers who were in the facility as of the time of the fire had all been evacuated.

No casualties were recorded but it took officials a little over two hours to put out the inferno. The fire which was spotted at about 3:30pm has now been brought under control. Eye witnesses said they spotted a thick smoke billowing from one of the warehouses in the factory.

Struggling to put out the blaze, fire men had to call for re-enforcement from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, the Tema Oil Refinery and the Industrial Area team to fight the fire.

Meanwhile, officials of Unilever Ghana say they will launch an investigation into incident.

Head of corporate affairs of Unilever Ghana, Gabriel Opoku Asare discounted claims that the incident will affect their production and sales.

Source: tv3network.com

GNFS calls for the enforcement of fire offenders law

Techiman (B/A), Jan. 29, GNA - Mr. Yaw Asamoah, National Fire Technical Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), has called for the reinforcement of the PNDC Law 229  to assist in controlling the rampant fire incidence.

     He said because stiffer punishments were not given to fire offenders to serve as deterrent to others, many people continued to set fires deliberately to destroy farms and vegetation cover.

     Mr. Asamoah who was accompanied by a working team from Accra on a two-day fire prevention tour in the Brong-Ahafo Region made the call during a courtesy call on Mr. Phillip Oppong Amponsah the Techiman South Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) and some chiefs at Techiman in the Region.

     Mr. Asamoah said that the spate of fire outbreaks attended to by the GNFS from the beginning of January this year alone, was so alarming and very threatening and could therefore lead the nation to hunger and economic difficulties.

     He said the fire situation in the country now could be likened to the 1983 fire disaster
where a lot of farms were totally burnt , which  brought about starvation and scarcity of forest products and resources.

     Mr. Asamoah said the Brong-Ahafo alone had recorded over 51 cases of bush fires this year, excluding the minor ones which were not reported.

     He said the fire situation had reached a point that everyone was needed to join the crusade of anti-bush fire to save the nation now for the benefit of future generation.

     Mr. Asamaoh said as a result, fire task forces had been set up by the administration of the GNFS to move round the country to sensitize the general public about the hazards of bush fires.

     He stated that acres of cocoa, cashew nuts and food crops have already been destroyed by fire this year due to the severity of the dry season, saying activities and practices of hunters, smokers, palm-wine tappers and farmers needed to be stopped immediately to prevent future calamity.

     Mr. Asamoah urged the public to report anybody found sending or setting fire in the bush in this critical period to the security agencies to be brought to book.

      He said the 2016 dry season was likely to extend to April and urge the farmers not to hasten to burn their farms, adding that even after April they should engage the services of fire volunteers in their communities to safeguard the process to prevent the spread of fire to other farms.

     Mr. Amponsah noted that so much influence wielded by traditional rulers, politicians and other people of influential status and positions had brought about indiscipline and disrespect in the country.

     He said there had been situation in which people found culpable of a particular crime had to be left to go free due to intervention from people in influential positions, adding that such attitudes was not helping the country.

     Mr. Amponsah stated that wrongdoers must be punished by the law to discourage others from committing similar crimes.

     Mr. Amponsah urged all Ghanaians to be positive-minded to fight the fire prevalence to save it from a national tragedy.

Source: allghananews.com

Ghana National Fire Service in huge debt to fuel stations

 
The Ghana National Fire Service is feared to be facing severe challenges with the purchase of fuel to man its emergency vehicles in the Ashanti Region and other regional capitals – a development which if feared to be having a negative toll on their ability to fight fire emergencies.

Media reports do indicate that most, if not all of the emergency vehicles in the Ashanti Region have been grounded due to the huge debts owed fuel stations across the country – a development which has seen the public relations officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, Osarfo Afum confirms.

To the best of my knowledge, we have issues with Goil, who supplies us with fuel, but as to whether we have grounded our appliances, that one I am not very sure of that. No district or regional commander will ground his appliances.

What this means is that the capacity of the Ghana National Fire Service to douse flames remains highly slim especially when the nation has over the past few months been experiencing severe spreads of fire outbreaks. In the meantime, the general public is been admonished to comply by basic fire safety tips with offices and large organisations charged to have fire extinguishers just for safety keeps.

Source: yen.comghnews

Medical Stores Fire Was Arson; 10 Officials Indicted

Government has concluded that the fire that destroyed the Central Medical Stores (CMS) in Tema was a case of arson. This followed investigations into the cause of the fire which occurred in January last year by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). A source has hinted Graphic Online that a total of 10 officials have been indicted in the report by the GNFS and the BNI. Meanwhile, government will release its official position on the investigations into the fire on Friday. The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, will issue government’s statement following the approval of President John Dramani Mahama.

Source: Daily Graphic

Fire razes down 34 houses in Volta region

Some 34 thatch houses have been completely razed down by fire at Ative-Korfeyie, a farming community in the Ketu North district of the Volta region.

The incident which occurred at about 1pm on Wednesday, according to Starr news sources started from a bushfire set by some game hunters in the area.

It took personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service from Akatsi and Dzodze close to four hours to put the fire under control, thus preventing it from engulfing the entire community.

No casualty was, however, recorded as majority of the residents were on their farms at the time of the disaster.

The Deputy district NADMO coordinator for Ketu North, Mr. Bright Dela Alormetu told Starr news’ Lambert Atsivor, that fifteen electricity poles were also destroyed by the inferno, which has rendered about 134 persons homeless.

He said some of the affected residents have been relocated into a nearby vocational school building as they arrange relief items for them.

One of the victims also told Starr News that they have lost their belongings as well as harvested farm produce to fire and appealed for government support.

“We have lost everything including food items and clothing. What to eat now is a problem, so we are pleading with the authorities to come to our aid” a victim told Starr news.

Source:starfmonline.com

54 fire cases reported in Western Region this year

The Western Regional Commander of Ghana National Fire Service, Mr Obeng Dankwa Dwamena says 54 fire cases have been reported in the region in January compared to 36 in the same period last year.

He described the situation as alarming, thus compelling the Service to intensify fire safety education across the region to curb the menace.

Mr Dwamena made the disclosure at Fijai on Wednesday when the national taskforce on bush fires visited the regional headquarters to begin a three-day sensitisation campaign.

He said the Region recorded a total of 402 fire cases last year with an estimated cost of damage at GH? 958, 931.00.

He said 46 bush fires were recorded, 161 domestic, 25 industrial, 58 vehicular, 56 commercial and three institutional fires.

Mr Dwamena noted that although the fire incidents are increasing the Service had not relented on its efforts on safety campaigns in the Region and the fire taskforce is working hard to ensure compliance with fire safety regulations.

He said the national taskforce on bush fires had visited the Region to augment the efforts of the Regional Command in creating and sustaining awareness on fire safety to save lives, the environment and property.

He said the ban on hunting wildlife is still in force and warned the public to be circumspect with fires.

The Regional Fire Commander advised cigarette smokers to extinguish their leftovers before throwing them away and those who burn their farms to be careful so that the faggots and burning of weeds did not cause widespread fire.

He said 1,126 fire volunteers have been constituted in the various districts in the Region to support the Service to educate the populace on fire safety.

Source:ghanaweb.com

Ban High Rise Buildings . GNFS Boss Tells Parliament

The Chief Fire Officer, Dr. Albert Brown-Gaisie, has appealed to Parliament to enact a legislation which would give the Ghana National Fire Service the power to stop the construction of high-rise buildings in the country. The legislative support, he said, had become imperative because of the emerging trend of constructing high-rise buildings which pose many challenges in fighting fire outbreaks in them. Dr. Brown-Gaisie made the appeal when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to issues raised in the Audit Report on the GNFS’ performance. Also present to support him was Mr. Mark Woyongo, outgoing Minister of the Interior, and his deputy James Agalga, as well as Emmanuel Agyekum, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, and Kojo Bonsu, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, who were also there to explain steps being taken to prevent fires in the various markets, especially, the Kumasi Kejetia market. Mr. Fred Lokko, Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited, was also on hand to respond to issues of availability of fire hydrants for fire-fighting in the country. Dr. Brown-Gaisie’s request for a legislation to stop high rise buildings stemmed from the fact that the GNFS has no equipment to fight fires in high rise buildings. He said presently, the GNFS only had three turn-table ladders which could only reach the sixth floor of any high-rise building, despite the fact that many fire-fighters across the world now used hydraulic platforms which could reach the 45th floor of any high-rise building. The Chief Fire Officer said a simulation exercise performed in Accra over some high-rise buildings, revealed the vulnerability of fire-fighters under the present circumstances. He said the GNFS had adopted a strategy to help manage the situation by accessing the higher floors after the turn-table ladder had lifted fire-fighters to the manageable sixth floor. In terms of logistics, he said although the GNFS had not had the full complement of equipment needed; it was making do with available resources at their disposal. He said what the GNFS needed was to augment their staff numbers, since between 2013 and 2014, the service had over 7,350 fire-fighters who were “but now as I speak, we have only 6,994 staff while the demand for fire stations continues to increase.” He said the GNFS was in discussion with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to, at least, accelerate the recruitment of drivers for fire tenders. Dr. Brown-Gaisie said the GNFS had also acquired lands at both Ayikuma and Duayaw Nkwanta to establish new fire academies to train the staff. Responding to the issue of non-availability of fire hydrants, GWCL boss Fred Lokko said with more water being pumped into the system as a result of works to improve water supply, especially in the Accra-Tema environ, the hydrants situation had improved. He said many hydrants which hitherto were either sealed or dry,, had been opened with water flowing in them, and it was up to the GNFS to make use of them. Both Mr. Woyongo and Mr. Agyekum, in their contributions gave the assurance that they would continue to interact with the organizations under them, for effective and efficient delivery of service which would ensure efficient fire-fighting in the country. The chairman of the committee, Mr. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, Member of Parliament of Dormaa Central, had earlier challenged the GNFS to ensure that all recommendations by the Audit Report were complied with. Source: Ghanaian Times

Firefighter battling PTSD: 'I didn't want to shut my eyes'

Scott Geiselhart is now traveling to fire departments across Minnesota speaking about suicide prevention and awareness education

FRAZEE, Minn. — A volunteer firefighter who tried to kill himself has made it his personal mission to save lives by talking about suicide, depression and PTSD.

Valley News Live reported that Scott Geiselhart said the challenges of the job started to get to him. He started struggling with drugs and anger toward his family.

"The nightmares would come back, and I would see my kids falling out of the sky on fire, and falling into the water and drowning while they are on fire, and I was paralyzed and I couldn't help them and that was the worst dream," Geiselhart said. "I had that many, many of nights, and it got to the point I just didn't want to shut my eyes anymore."

In July 2014, he thought the only way out to get some relief was to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger. But instead of going off, it just clicked.

That’s when he realized he had been struggling with PTSD and he didn’t even know it.

"Why couldn't people see that?" he said. "It can happen to anybody, PTSD, depression, suicide, it's all hand in hand and it's not being talked about enough."

He’s now traveling to fire departments across Minnesota speaking about the taboo topic. He also raises money with a group, called Never Give Up, for suicide prevention and awareness education.

"Now I just want to go back and try to prevent this from happening to anyone else," he said.

Scott Geiselhart

GNFS unhappy with rising rate of bush fires

The Central Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) complaining about the increasing rate of bush fires in the Central Region, has urged residents to be more vigilant.

The Service said it has recorded a total of 70 bush fires with barely a week to end the first month of the year, thus describing the situation ‘as very outrageous.’

Divisional Officer I, Gilbert Wiafe, who is the Regional Fire Officer, at a media briefing, told the media that incidents of bush fire cases in the region had significantly increased over the past years, in contrast to the vigorous public education.

While only 36 bush fires were recorded in the whole of 2014, last year 118 was recorded. However, the figure has seen an increase of about 59 per cent with a few days to the end of the first month of the year.

Madam Georgina Agyari-Kwabi, a Deputy Director, who led a three-member delegation from the National Headquarters to the Central Region, to ascertain the causes of bush fires and how to address the menace, said bush burning was a challenging environmental concern in the country.

She said hunters, herdsmen, farmers and cigarettes smokers did not handle fire well and were the causes for most uncontrolled and indiscriminate bush burning.

She, therefore, advised farmers to always seek the consent of fire volunteers before burning their farms.

“The effects of bush fires on rural livelihoods and on the eco-system in Ghana are increasingly becoming extensive resulting in the destruction of property worth millions of Ghana cedis,” she stated.

Ms Agyari-Kwabi called for a concerted approach in curbing the menace considering the diverse and interactive nature of the causes of bushfires and urged chiefs to expose those who deliberately set the bush on fire to the Police for their instant arrests.

Source: www.allghananews.com

https://www.facebook.com/bless.kwassi

GNFS Honours Daily Guide

A.R. Gomda receiving the award for the DAILY GUIDE from Hon. Ken Dzirasah

The DAILY GUIDE newspaper was one of a host of other media players to be honoured by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) at a maiden award activity organized by the organization yesterday.

In his keynote address before the presentation of the awards, the Minister of the Interior Hon. Mark Owen Woyongo congratulated the award winners for their efforts in supporting the GNFS in its work which, as he said, has contributed to national development.

He urged the media to strike a balance in their reportage so that both positive and negative stories are highlighted. The continuous dependence on negative stories, he noted, is something very common with the Western media and should be avoided.

“Criticise as much as you can but ensure that what you report can be substantiated” he charged the media adding that it has a critical role to play in educating members of the public about fire prevention.

Fire prevention and safety, he said, is a shared responsibility between members of the public and fire personnel.

.
He charged those who did not win awards to emulate the feat of the winners so that they too can be considered in subsequent recognition activities.

The Minister also asked the media to let research be the cornerstone of their work and to do documentaries which can help rural dwellers who cannot read and write.

The Chairman of the GNFS Council Hon. Ken Dzirasah who was also the chairman for the occasion expressed elation for the innovation.

He recalled how on some occasions GNFS personnel are hooted at fire scenes because such persons are ignorant about fire tenders and think erroneously that the equipment are filled with so much water that it should not be exhausted within a short time.

The Chief Fire Officer Dr. Brown Gaisie said the programme, the first of its kind, was intended to express gratitude to the media for their role in propagating the work of the Service.

As agenda setters, the media cannot be ignored in the activities of public organizations, he said, while pointing out how journalists with time have demystified the issues of fire fighting. “The media now understand what causes fire and other aspects of the profession of fire fighting, a situation which hitherto was not the case.”

“We cannot quantify or evaluate the role of the media in the work of the GNFS” he said.

Interestingly, the Chief Fire Officer Brown Gaisie, Hon. Ken Dzirasah and Hon. Mark Woyongo have all media backgrounds having practiced journalism for many years before their career changes.
https://www.facebook.com/bless.kwassi
By A.R. Gomda

Source:  www.modernghana.com
         

14 Fire Cases In New Juaben In 2016

Fourteen fire outbreaks have been recorded so far in the New Juaben municipality of the Eastern Region, since January this year.

According to statistics, 11 bushfires have been recorded as well as three domestic fires causing damage to the local Presbyterian Church at Bonya, a suburb of Koforidua.

Speaking to Ghana News Agency, in an interview the Municipal Fire Officer, Deputy Fire Officer (DFO) Gyasi Boateng, cautioned the public against activities that could cause fire outbreak.

DFO Boateng indicated that because of the harmattan all combustible materials are dry and advised the public to be careful with fire-related materials and electrical gadgets.

He urged the citizenry to quench used fires and put off all electrical gadgets when not in use, adding that a small fire outbreak could become big leading to the destruction of properties.

DFO Boateng said investigation was ongoing to ascertain the cause of the fire outbreaks.

GNA

Task Force Set Up To Respond To Fire Outbreaks In Volta Region

The Volta regional command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) have intensify fire safety education among the public in order to avert any outbreak in the region.

In this regards, officers of the service are visiting homes, schools, markets places and other public institutions to sensitize members of the public on fire safety regulations and as well conduct risk assessment on some of these public structures.

The Volta regional chief fire officer, Daniella Mawusi Sarpong disclosed to journalists at the end of a community sensitization programme, that the command has also set up a special task force tasked to keep a 24 hour surveillance on key installations such as markets and other public buildings.

The task force, she noted has also been replicated in all 20 operational districts of the service across the region.

Though some regions have recorded major fire outbreaks in homes and public places such as markets and schools this month, outbreaks in the Volta region are mostly bush fires, most of which the personnel of the service have responded to swiftly.

Not withstanding , the regional commander said anti-bush fire campaigns and volunteers have been launched in all the district to complement the efforts of the fire officers in curbing fire outbreaks during this period.

Assistant chief fire officer, Danilla Sarpong further called on the general public to on high alert against fire outbreaks to ensure their safety.



Source: www.modernghana.com

GNFS: High-rise buildings ban appeal misconstrued

Dr. Albert Brown-Gaisie, GNFS

 Spokesperson for the Ghana National Fire Service Prince  Billy Anaglatey has said calls by the Chief Fire Officer Dr. Albert Brown-Gaisie for a legislation to ban the construction of high-rise buildings in the country has been misconstrued.

The Chief Fire Officer Tuesday told parliament to consider promulgating laws to ban buildings that transcended six floors since the service does not have the equipment to fight fires beyond that level. He said while firefighters in other countries have tools to fight fires at 45th floors of buildings, the highest the GNFS can go is the 6th floor.

The call has, however, triggered intense public debate with some Ghanaians describing it as backward and retrogressive.

But speaking to Nii Arday Clegg on the Morning Starr Wednesday, Mr. Anaglatey said his boss has been misrepresented by the Media.

“ I honestly think the reportage has been done out of context. What the Chief Officer said was that some of those buildings fail to ensure that certain facilities are fixed in the design to make firefighting easier. They continue to flout firefighting measures and that is what the fire officer was talking about,” he stated.

     

Starrfmonline.com.

Install fire extinguishers at places of worship - GNFS .

Fire Extinguishers.

The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has implored the public to install fire extinguishers at places of worship such as the mosques and churches to ensure rapid response to any potential fire outbreaks.

The Deputy Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GNFS, Prince Billy Anaglate, who made the call said, installation of fire extinguishers and early fire detective systems in places of worship, was necessary to ensure safety in case of fire outbreaks.

He pointed out that religious facilities were public places and needed to be protected at all times.

Outreach

Mr Anaglate was speaking at some mosques at Nima in Accra last Friday, where he addressed two separate Muslim congregations in the suburb.

The congregants at the Sariki Kardo and the Research Institute mosques were sensitised to fire safety measures and how to prevent its occurrence in the community, as part of an outreach programme.

He observed that the absence of fire safety tools in homes and facilities, could be attributed to ignorance for which reason he said the GNFS had embarked on the sensitisation campaign.

Caution
In the wake of the intermittent power outages in the country, an officer from the Safety Department of the GNFS, Charles Kingsley Amoh, cautioned the public about the use of candles, generators and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The General Secretary of the Research Institute Mosque, Abubakar Garba Osuman, commended officials of the GNFS for the programme and pledged to abide by the advice on safety measures.

Source: Daily Graphic

Coup Plotters in Fire Service Exposed

It has emerged that some officers of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), who are not enthused about the management of the service under the Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, have commenced moves to thwart the efforts of the CFO. After holding secret meetings to gang up against the CFO and the current management of the service, the officers have written anonymous letters to the presidency, the seat of government to spew lied about the leadership of the Fire Service. The Daily Heritage has gathered that some of the faceless individuals behind the anonymous letters were the brains behind the issuance of fake fire certificates to individuals and companies to illegally amass wealth. The officials formed a cartel to rob the State on the blind side of the management of the service and are complaining now because the loopholes have been blocked under the current leadership of the service headed by Dr. Gaisie. The paper further gathered that the anonymous letters are targeted at Dr. Gaisie to shut him up so that they can have their way, but source close to the CFO say “he is not perturbed about the anonymous letters. We know the people behind this, but we are focused on the job. “In any case, nobody will listen to their lies, they are just bent on destroying the service for their selfish gains,” one of the officers told the paper in an interview. Among the achievements of Dr. Gaisie since he assumed office barely a year ago are the restoration of morale in the service after resolving protracted legal issues regarding promotions and promotion of over 1,500 officers who had been struggling to be duly promoted for over 14 years.  Other achievements are the transformation of the Accra Regional office at Korle-Bu, the Makola office, the Training School at James Town and the opening of more offices in the Greater Accra Region to combat fires in the region, among many others.

Source: Daily Heritage