The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) on Thursday entreated residents of Ashaiman to observe basic fire safety measures to help curb the outbreak of domestic fires in and around the Municipality.
Divisional Officer III Jones Sarpong, who made the call during a fire safety education campaign at the Ashaiman Lebanon Taxi Rank, said the Service recorded a total of 83 domestic fires in 2008 and 40 for the first half of this year, in the Tema Metropolis and the Ashaiman Municipality.
Mr Sarpong called on the residents to stop deceiving themselves that their homes were immune to fire outbreaks, and be fire-cautious in all their activities.
He mentioned some of the hazards as electrical gadgets, matches, gas cylinders, clothing, candles, mosquito coils and kerosene.
The Fire Safety Officer bemoaned the overloading of electrical sockets and extension boards, explaining that the act could lead to overheating, generation of sparks and fire outbreaks.
Mr Sarpong further stated that using an extension board with many holes did not necessarily mean the user should plug gadgets into all the holes at the same time.
He, therefore, advised that the energy consuming capacity of gadgets must be checked and matched with the appropriate socket to prevent overheating.
On the usage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), he implored residents in the Municipality to place their cylinders outside the kitchen, and not near the gas cooker.
He explained that since LPG is two and a half times heavier than oxygen, placing the cylinder in an enclosed area especially in the kitchen, could easily lead to fire outbreak if a leakage should occur on the cylinder, the tube or the regulator.
"When a litre of LPG leaks, it expands 250 times, meaning being careless with it can lead to a disaster," he emphasized.
Mr Sarpong cautioned parents against setting bad examples for their children, observing that instead of using an adaptor for an electrical gadget with two pins on the plug, they would use a wood or a metal to force it into a three-hole socket.
He advised that matches should be kept away from children, while lighted mosquito coils and candles must be placed in metal plates with water, instead of rubber plates or on tables.
The Fire Safety Officer also urged the public to call the service on 192 when they observed any fire, adding that "no matter how small the fire, the service must be called before it escalates".
The education programme was carried out in Ga, Twi, Ewe and the Hausa languages, while placards were also carried by personnel of the service.
Some of the placards read; "The fireman is a friend not an enemy", "avoid overloading of electrical sockets", and "avoid illegal electricity connection".