By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, Feb. 20, GNA – The Central Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has recorded a decrease in fire outbreaks in January from 90 in 2023 to 84 in 2024.
Representing a 12 per cent reduction, the Service identified decreased humidity and increased temperatures, making combustible materials highly susceptible to fire outbreaks as the cause of fire.
Divisional Officer III, Abdul Wasiu Hudu, the Regional Public Relations Officer, told the Ghana News Agency that the first quarter of every year recorded high incidents of fire due to dryness in the weather.
He said bushfires had always dominated the first month of every year and this year was not an exception even though there was a decrease.
The Region, in January, recorded 37 bushfires in 2023, but reduced to 30 cases in 2024, representing 18.9 per cent.
He said domestic fires increased from 21 to 22, commercial fires from 10 to 17, vehicular fires decreased from eight to four in the same periods.
DOIII Hudu attributed the reduction to intensive fire safety education, where personnel in most of the districts embarked on door-to-door fire safety campaigns.
On the causes of the fires, he explained that the use of fire to clear lands for farming and construction purposes were the leading causes of bushfires.
Equally disturbing were the unattended burning of refuse leading to some industrial and commercial fires.
He advised market women and shop owners against burning refuse when leaving for home as it could spread and accidentally engulf shops at the market.
He recommended that individuals should rather burn the refuse with strict supervision until the combustion process was completed before leaving.
GNA