In the first half of the year, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) responded to 3,678 outbreaks across the country.
According to the Service, the total cost of these fires, including property damage, is GHS30,197,948.20.
This is an increase from the same period last year, when there were 3030 fires, with a corresponding estimated cost of property damage of GHS24,236,113.
The GNFS also stated that the cost of items salvaged from these fires for the period under review was GHS7,997,729,00, compared to GHS528,632.00 for the same period in 2021.
“An average of 20 fires were recorded in a day during the first half year of 2022 as against 17 for the same period in 2021. 35 lives were unfortunately lost in 2022 through these fires.
“185 deaths were recorded through road traffic collision incidents as against 2022 for the same period in 2021,” a statement from the GNFS said.
The statement added that “17 lives also perished through other rescue missions (flooding, depths, and heights rescue) as against 14 for the same period in 2021.”
According to the institution, 1091 out-on-arrival cases were recorded in the first half of 2022, compared to 977 in the same period in 2021.
However, 84 rescues were recorded during the review period in 2022, compared to 71 during the same period in 2021.
The Ashanti Region had the most fire outbreaks with some 722 fires which represent 19.63% of the total fires for the first half year of 2022.
It was closely followed by Greater Accra Region with 690 fires representing 18.76 percent, while Volta Region recorded the lowest figure of l6 fires representing 0.44 percent.
Some of the causes of these fires, according to the Service, are “electrical faults resulting from circuit overload; arcing: short circuits; inferior cables; compromised or poorly done electrical installations; over-aged wires and earthing problems: Gas leaks; unattended cooking; unattended lit candles; mosquito coils; matches; and shoddy welding and deliberate acts.”
“The fires recorded suggest a downward trend from 1090 in January to 342 in June 2022.
The high number of out-on-arrival cases of 1,091 also suggests that the education and sensitization programs of the Service are impacting positively on the general public as they are now able to manage small fires.”
It has, however, linked an increase in fires to the harsh harmattan weather experienced in the first three months of 2022, as well as a failure to follow basic fire safety precautions, particularly in our domestic settings.
The institution, therefore, advised the public to avoid prank calls on its emergency numbers (192/112) to enable the institution to respond timely to real emergencies to save lives.
