The L.I 2249 requires owners of domestic or residential facilities to provide fire safety cover plans but people are not obeying this law, which was making the work of the Fire Service difficult.

Divisional Officer (DO) James Kwarteng, the Acting Public Relations Officer, speaking at a training workshop for journalists at the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said residents needed to comply with the Law as continued failure to do so would lead to prosecution and sanction.

The aim of the workshop was to educate journalists on the role and vision of the Service.

DO Kwarteng said since the Amendment of the LI in 2016 the Service had embarked on a lot of activities to intensify public education but majority of residents were yet to comply, which was a worry to the GNFS.

He called on the public to cooperate as this was mandatory on everyone to prevent fire outbreak, especially at residential areas. He said the GNFS’ commitment in providing an efficient rescue service was met by statutory requirement in Act 537 and that this would only be achieved through appropriate resourcing in terms of equipment and effective training of personnel.

DO Kwarteng said the Service organised free educative programmes to heighten the role of individuals in the prevention of fire, however, it also provided technical advice to building plans with regard to machinery and structural layouts to facilitate rescue operations and management.

He said in spite of all the activities embarked on to enhance their operations, the GNFS was faced with numerous challenges and called on the public and institutions to assist in delivering on their mandate.

He urged residents and institutions to, over time, do simulation exercises or home drills to enable them to know what to do when there was fire outbreak.