B/A Fire Service to recruit more volunteers

The Brong Ahafo Regional branch of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) will recruit about 7000 more local fire volunteers to add to the existing 7000 to help fight fire incidents during the dry season. Divisional Officer Grade One Paul Opoku, Regional Fire Officer, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, said all the volunteers would undergo intensive training to equip them with new knowledge on combating fires in their communities. He said a task force comprising the army, police, staff of GNFS and National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) would also be moving round especially at fire prone areas such as Atebubu, Kintampo, Wenchi and Techiman to arrest fire offenders. The Regional Director said such offenders would be prosecuted to deter others and appealed to group hunters to desist from the practice since the law would not spare them when caught. Mr Opoku called on farmers not to carry out any activity with fire till the end of March. He called for the co-operation of farmers and to assist the task force and the volunteers to protect their farms to save the ecology from destruction as well as the river bodies from drying up. Mr Opoku said the Service last year recorded a total of 236 fire cases, with domestic fires having the highest number of 105, followed by 55 bush fires, vehicular 31, electrical 18, commercial five, industrial three and others 23. The Service also attended to 32 road traffic accident cases in which eight people lost their lives and 66 injuries.