Mr. Iddrisu Nafew, an officer at the Konongo Fire Station, which has responsibility for the four districts, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that a total of 60 fire cases were reported during the period.

There were 21 cases of domestic fires and equal number of bushfires, with vehicular, commercial and industrial fires accounting for the remaining 18 cases. He identified dysfunctional and inadequate fire hydrants as the main operational challenge they faced and said this had been making it difficult to fight fires.

He indicated that the area had only three fire hydrants and two out of them were faulty.

He spoke of instances where water did not flow from the pipelines of the Ghana Water Company during fire emergency.  He therefore called for the provision of a mechanized borehole with an overhead tank at the fire station to ensure reliable water supply.

Mr. Nafew complained of inadequate office accommodation, something he said had not been helpful to the station’s smooth operation. The station is supposed to have safety, education, anti-bushfire and operation units for effective service delivery but these functions are now being performed by the operations unit because of the lack of space.