Commentary

Ghana National Fire Service to adopt contemporary firefighting

By Fred Boasiako Antwi, a Social Commentator

Last week, fire gutted several homes at Ringway Estate, a suburb of Osu in Accra destroying properties running into thousands of cedis. Some of the affected persons say, the fire was detected around 4 am at dawn due to what they believe was an electrical fault. The victims immediately contacted the Ghana National Fire Service to come to their rescue. However, the fire department did not arrive at the scene on time and so neighbors assisted in putting out the fire. When the fire service finally arrived at the scene, they detected that their hydrants were without water. On July 5, 2021, a fire gutted a three storey building at the Makola Shopping Mall in the business district. The inferno according to reports was detected at around 3am. Eyewitnesses say they rushed to the Makola Area office of the fire service to seek their intervention. Reports flooded traditional and social media about the inferno which destroyed shops and properties worth millions of cedis.

The fire service came under attack because even their proximity to the fire scene, just a walking distance, did not report on time to salvage the situation. Indeed the then mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah is on record to have said that preliminary investigations conducted by the AMA show that the fire service went to the scene without water. This has been usually the reports fire victims give anytime the fire service is called upon to address issues relating to fire.

In the pre-colonial era, before the existence of the Fire Service, fires were controlled by Traditional rulers, using the Asafo Companies (Traditional Soldiers) to fight all kinds of fires in their communities and localities. The idea of a National Fire Service was conceived in 1955 when the colonial Government invited Mr. S. M. Charters of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Fire Service into the country and to among other things, advise on the organization and establishment of Fire Service in Municipalities and in certain urban towns. In 1962, the Government of Ghana employed the services of a Fire Advisory Expert, Mr. G. S. Leader, under the United Kingdom-Ghana Technical Assistance Programme to help formulate a policy on the formation of a National Fire Service which had long been contemplated.

In 1963 by an Act of Parliament (Fire Service Act 1963; Act 219) the Ghana National Fire Service was established. The primary aim of the Ghana National Fire Service was firefighting and extinguishing, and to render humanitarian services. Subsequently, in 1997 the Ghana National Fire Service Act (Act 537) was enacted to re-establish the Ghana National Fire Service with the objective of prevention and management of undesired fires and other related matters with an expanded mandate. The purpose of Act 537 was to expand the functions of the GNFS taking into cognizance modern trends in the Fire Services all over the world; from fire intervention to fire prevention and safety. This mandate it appears the GNFS has not carried out satisfactorily in terms of modern ways of tackling fires.

How can a whole fire department attend to a disaster scene without enough logistics, especially water to douse flames? In the makola scenario for instance, the service we were told initially went to the scene to ascertain the truth or otherwise of fire. This clearly speaks of how unprepared an institution considered paramount could appear. Fire departments the world are important to the socio-economic and political development of government.

In fact in the United States and Britain for example firefighters go beyond just responding to calls for assistance to rescuing and protecting people in the event of a road traffic accident. This tells the importance of the department of fire in any jurisdiction. There is no doubt that the GNFS is trying to execute their mandate with the several logistics deficits they have. That notwithstanding, fire victims do not appreciate the logistical constraints of a service they called upon in times of need. This is why the recent victims at Osu who lost everything they have labored for over the years deserve some explanation as to why the fire service were unable to come to their aid and if possible be compensated for their loss. The era where nothing is done about the unprofessional manner in which professionals trained to carry out specific duties fail to do so are gone. Ghana has come a long way and modern ways of firefighting must not be a struggle.