Fire can easily double as a useful servant or in some scenarios as a fiery master. The spate of fire outbreaks in Ghana for the month of January this year 2015 has beenquite alarming and quantum of destruction with regards to life and property is huge but avoidable in most cases.
With the recent fire outbreaks of the Central Medical Store (CMS) in Tema and Medical Store of Tamale Teaching Hospital which led to huge losses estimated to run into millions of Ghana Cedis, it is imperative that we have a lot more to do in terms of prevention and mitigating losses when they occur.
The Ghana National Fire and Rescue Service (GNFRS) an agency under the Ministry of Interior is tasked with numerous functions of which the basic one most are aware of includes offering rescue and evacuation services to those trapped by fire or in other emergency situations. The GNFRS has and would always be an indispensible agency in our history when it comes to fire outbreaks. However, it is clear that challenges impede their smooth operation.
Having been a first-hand witness to a recent fire outbreak on the 20th January 2015 that occurred on my neighbours premises, I would be in the best position to rate the efficiency and procedures adopted by the fire fighters called in controlling the fire on the said day.
A few things I registered as challenging during the fire outage process included the lack of mobile/affixed water pump, smoke masks, flash lights, coordination and efficient communication between fire fighters. The fire outbreak was caused as a result of a lit candle which was placed on a fridge after lights went out (dumsor). This led to thick smoke emanating from the source of the fire and this virtually spread to other rooms. Upon arrival of the fire service personnel’s, the first noticeable challengeswere the absence of flash lights and smoke masks needed to immediately aid the fire fighters to commence action. Flash lights were later made available by some observers who have gathered to witness the showdown.
After the hoses were connected and water made to run through from the water tender, another challenge noticed were holes and cuts in the hoses which leaked most of the water intended to reach the other end of the nozzle to quench the fire. The big issue came when the water run out in a matter of minutes and there was not an immediate back up water tender anywhere near the emergency area. Fortunately, we had a reservoir full of water in our homebut the fire fighters made me understand there was no pump to even aid drawing the water from the reservoir into the emergency area. This was marred with coordination and communication lapses observed between the fire fighters.
The agency per this observation is not well equipped to fight fire on a large scale when the need arises. This might not necessarily be a national representation of the situation on ground however lessons and correction could be deduced from this.
It is quite obvious that our current power outage problem might extend its visit longer than expected and thus every concerned citizen would have to activate the fire outbreak prevention mode or/and in addition insurance against the hazard of fire. Some prevention tips include not refueling generators when its running, not leaving lighted candles on combustible surfaces, appliances turned off after an outage to prevent surge leading to fire when lights are turned back on, cylinders kept away from fire area amongst many others. Insurance of commercial properties which is mandatory under the insurance act 724, 2006 section 184. Subsection (1) one states that “every commercial building shall be insured with an insurer against the hazards of collapse, fire, earthquake, storm and flood, and an insurance policy issued for it.” Many might not appreciate the intended purpose of this act but subsection (2) two explains it further and it states that “insurance policy shall cover the legal liabilities of an owner or occupier of premises in respect of loss of or damage to property, bodily injury or death suffered by any user of the premises and third parties.”
As a risk officer, my humble appeal would be to advise residential property owners to also insure against hazards of fire. As the popular saying goes, nobody on his/her own knows tomorrow. These Fire insurance policies are offered by insurers who cover for any resultant legal liabilities in respect of loss of or damage to property as a result of fire.
Money and food can be used as a test of ones character, in the same vein, events can be used to tests thestrength/weaknesses of services which are legally tasked to respond to them. It is my hope that the Interior Ministry help to fully equip where necessary the GNFRS with the needed tools/kits to fight fire efficiently and also for citizens to consider preventive fire measures and/or fire insurance policies available for adequate protection in the event they occur.
