Fire outbreaks destroy property in Upper West Region

The Upper West Region recorded 91 fire outbreaks from January to December last year with damage to property estimated at GH¢46,330. Domestic fires were high on the list with 51 fire outbreaks, bush fires recorded 19, incident nine, commercial six with electrical and vehicular recording four each. Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) Joseph Ahinsah, the Regional Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), attributed the causes of the domestic fires to negligence on the part of domestic fire users. He also mentioned the use of obsolete electrical appliances and illegal power connections as well as the intermittent power fluctuations as contributory factors. Mr Ahinsah told the GNA that bush fires were mainly caused by hunters and farmers who set fires and leave them unattended to. He said the challenge facing the Fire Service in the Region was that the only Fire Tender had broken down and appealed to the authorities to fix it.