By: Roberta Gayode Modin
The Ghana National Fire Service has cautioned the public against prank calls, indicating that they have received more than 1 million prank calls in mid-2022.
Speaking on the GTV Breakfast Show, Assistant Divisional Officer Grade One ( ADO ii), Alex Nartey said the prank calls hinder the Fire Service from attending to people with genuine fire cases.
“The public must be mindful that while they are pranking our people, there might be someone that has a genuine concern that needs to get to us. So it is important that prank calls are discouraged”, he said.
He also advised parents to educate their children on the importance of calling emergency numbers only when they truly have an emergency.
“Parents can paste the emergency numbers at vantage points in their homes, such as their refrigerators and dining tables, so that the kids can see it and become familiar with these numbers,” he added.
The Ghana National Fire Service recorded an alarming 45 fire cases on Christmas day, December 25, 2022, and has since embarked on massive public education on fire and how to minimize the frequent occurrences of fire outbreaks during the harmattan period.
Mr. Nartey also urged the Ghanaians to adopt collapsible burglar-proof for easy escape during fire outbreaks to save lives.
“Ghanaians are more concerned about security much more than safety so you realized that people build and they have so many burglar proofs. They are thinking about the thief not coming in but what about you going out when there is a fire”, he added.