Assistant Fire Officer (AFO), Mr Kwasi Baffour-Awuah, Savannah Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), who made the appeal, said personnel at the station, at the peril of their lives, relied on fire extinguishers and a fire hydrant at BOST to fight the fire.

He said it was because the fire tender at the station was out of use when the incident occurred, adding that it took two hours for a fire tender from Damongo to arrive at the scene, by which time the personnel had helped to contain the situation.

He made the appeal at Damongo on Tuesday, when the Minister for the Interior visited the Savannah Regional Command of the GNFS to interact with personnel of the Service to learn about how government's interventions in the security sector were impacting their operations.

The Minister, who was accompanied by the Savannah Regional Minister, also interacted with Personnel of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service in the region.

It will be recalled that around 1900 hours on Friday, January 03, this year, there was fire outbreak near BOST at Buipe in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region, where three fuel tankers were burnt and one other partially burnt while three people also sustained injuries.

AFO Baffour-Awuah said, but for the courage of the personnel of the station to face the fire without the appropriate equipment, BOST, a critical national asset, would have been destroyed hence the proposal to promote them to motivate others to go the extra mile to protect the country.

He spoke about a number of challenges facing the GNFS in the region, including; the lack of water bases and hydrants and appealed to government to establish fire stations at the North Gonja and North East Gonja Districts including; other major towns in the area to ensure swift response to fire outbreaks.

He said despite the challenges, the GNFS in the region had intensified public education on fires to help reduce fire outbreaks.

Mr Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior commended personnel of the GNFS for their courage to help put out the fire near BOST and their efforts to reduce fire outbreaks in the region.

Mr Dery assured that government would continue to resource the security agencies to function effectively commending them for discharging their functions professionally.

He also assured personnel of the security agencies that government was collaborating with some tertiary institutions to ensure that they pursued further studies to enhance their operations.

Mr Dery inspecting a guard of honour mounted by Personnel of the GNFS in the region