The Ashanti Region recorded nine fire-related deaths in 2023, showing a decline from the total of 15 fatalities documented in 2022.
Divisional Officer Three (DOIII), Peter Addai, the Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), who made this known, attributed the decline to the intensified public education and the swift responses of firemen to disaster scenes.
He told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Kumasi, that the number of fire cases recorded in the region also reduced from 1,132 in 2022 to 1,006 in 2023, representing an 11.34 per cent decrease.
Mr Addai, however said the cost of damage from fire in 2023 went up to GHS 226,740,956, compared to the GHS 24,247,407.00 recorded in 2022.
He said in 2024, the Regional Command would work closely with the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), in building fire stations for prompt responses to fire outbreaks.
He stressed the need for the MMDAs to de-cluster the existing markets and invest in properly laid out structures to decongest, ensure easy access for fire tenders in times of emergency, and to reduce damage caused by these fires.
Mr Addai said the Command would create fire posts in markets where there were none and expand regular fire safety inspections and audits in places of public interest.
Again, educational outreaches would continue in households, schools, religious centers, health facilities, social gatherings and in the mass media to ensure fire safety awareness among the people in the region.
GNA
KOM/CAA/GRB
19 Jan. 2024
