Accra-Ghana, Oct 18, GNA – The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has inaugurated a 17-member National Fire Safety Taskforce to inspect fire certificates at public and private facilities.
The team will also educate the public on how to acquire fire certificates.
It will assess fire safety cover, identify service providers sanctioned to deal in fire safety products and find out whether they were trained in fire safety.
The Taskforce will work for two months and heighten the awareness of fire safety and fire certification acquisition.
The team comprised representatives from the 16 regions under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO), Mrs Daniella Mawusi Ntow Sapong, Director of Fire Safety.
DCFO Sapong said the exercise would be replicated at the regional levels.
She said the Taskforce would engage owners of both public and private facilities on the need to embrace fire safety.
DCFO Sapong said the need for close monitoring, supervision, inspection and compliance driven activities were essential in an era of heightened productivity, growth and industrialisation.
“This would complement the efforts of the fire safety directorate to ensure successful implementation of national policies aimed at protecting lives, properties and investments,” she added.
She said fire safety was a shared responsibility and called on the public to cooperate with the team.
DCFO Sapong said the Directorate had engaged the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority to ensure that fire permit in-principal acquisition procedures was not compromised.
She advised the Taskforce to strictly follow the directives of the Directorate to avoid confrontation with the public.
Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Julius Kuunuor, said with intensive fire safety education, the public would become more aware of the important roles they needed to play in achieving a fire free nation to support the developmental agenda of Ghana.
He said from the fire statistics recorded for 2022 and 2023, it was gratifying to note that the GNFS saw a marginal reduction in fire outbreak figures recorded throughout the country.
“There was a decrease in fire outbreaks by 282, representing 5.9 per cent in 2023 as against the same period in 2022.”
CFO Kuunuor said for the period January 1, 2023, to September 30, 2023, Domestic Fires recorded the highest of 1,818, followed by Commercial fires, 747, Electrical fires, 559 and Bush fires, 566.
He urged the Taskforce to be professional on the field for a successful exercise.
