The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has renewed its appeal to the public to call for help the moment a fire breaks out, rather than trying to fight it first and calling only when the situation gets out of hand.
“We should not pray for fire outbreaks to occur, but should it occur, they should quickly call the Fire Service,” the Bono East Regional Fire Commander, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Grade One (ACFO I), Rev. Naomi Ofori-Adubea Sarpong, said.
Adding, “Fire will not wait for you during those few minutes you delay.”
ACFO I Sarpong’s appeal followed a fire outbreak on Thursday night that tore through a warehouse belonging to Zeko Genius Motor Spare Parts at Tamale Station in the Techiman South Municipality in the Bono East Region.
Speaking to the local media at the scene, ACFO I Sarpong said the Service’s Control Room received the call at exactly 9:29 p.m. on Thursday night, with firefighters arriving within minutes. By then, the fire had already escalated.
According to the GNFS regional commander, workers of the commercial entity and passers-by had been battling the flames on their own before calling for help.
“But because the inferno had escalated, it took us nearly four hours to bring the blaze under control,” she said.
The regional GNFS commander said eight firefighters were deployed with two fire tenders and a Rapid Response Vehicle for the operation.
Their efforts, she said, had prevented the fire from spreading to nearby properties, including the Gaskiya FM premises, the Zen fuel station and a storey building.
“Had the flames reached the fuel station, the consequences could have been far worse,” she told journalists.
ACFO I Sarpong said investigations were ongoing into the cause of the fire and the full extent of the financial loss.
Meanwhile, the Bono East Regional Fire Commander has urged traders and warehouse owners to keep fire extinguishers and ensure staff know how to raise the alarm quickly.
FROM TIMES REPORTER, TECHIMAN
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