The Upper West Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has instituted both day and night patrols at major markets within the Wa Municipality, as part of measures to avert any market fires.

The patrols, being replicated in all the district capitals, also form part of the outreach programme of the command to educate residents on fire safety and the need to protect their investments and safeguard lives and property.

Also, the command has stationed a fire engine at the market and patrols the market day and night as a preventive measure.

This has become necessary following the recent fire incidents recorded in major markets across the country.

Dry season

The Regional Fire Commander, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Grade II (ACFOII) Isaak Kofi Obosu, told the Daily Graphic that the command had to step up its outreach programmes during this period because of the dry season.

He explained that during the dry season, the region usually records a high number of fire incidents, especially bushfires and as such, the command needed to intensify its fire prevention education and also put its staff on high alert to respond timeously to any emergency.

In partnership with the Police Service and the local security at the market, he said access to the market at night had been restricted to just one entry point to ensure that the security kept track of those who entered the market after closing.

That, he said, would help in investigations in case of any emergency.

Fire safety

ACFO Obosu said it was important everyone took an interest in fire safety to safeguard lives and property and advised Ghanaians to be fire safety conscious and adhere to fire safety regulations.

For instance, last year, he said the Upper West Region recorded 93 domestic fire incidents out of 200 cases as against 79 out of 195 recorded for the year 2023.

The second leading fire incident in the region was bushfires. The region recorded a slight reduction in the number of bushfires recorded last year.

ACFO Obosu said the region recorded a total of 34 cases of bushfires for the year 2024 as against 37 for the year 2023 and the commercial fires for the same period were 24 for 2024 and 22 for 2023.

However, in the case of vehicular fires, he said there was a drastic reduction from 16 for the year 2023, to six for the year 2024, and “last year, we did not record any death as a result of fire outbreaks.”

The regional fire commander reiterated the call on the residents of rural areas, particularly those who live in bushy areas to keep their surroundings clean and create a fire belt around their dwellings to avoid being affected in case of bushfires.

For instance, he said on December 28, 2024, a compound of 20 houses at Bamahu was completely burnt down due to the high grasses around the area.