Sunyani (B/A) Aug. 5, GNA - The Brong-Ahafo Region recorded a total of 155 fire outbreaks for first the half of the year with GH¢16,887,510 bein= g the cost of damage to items and properties.

The damaged items and properties included buildings, farms, industrial machines and equipment, household items and personal belongings. The incidents excluding commercial and institutional fires, covered domestic, bush, vehicular, electrical and industrial fires, Assistant Division Officer (ADO) Grade II Michael Kwame Yeboah, Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Wednesday in Sunyani.

He said accumulation of all the types of incidents for each month were 55, 29, 13, 13, 15 and 20 fires in that order from January to June whilst 7= 5 domestic fires was the highest occurrence, followed by bush fires, 34, vehicular, 17, electrical, 13, others 11 and industrial 5 respectively within the period under review. ADO II Yeboah explained that 23, 14, 11, 8, 8 and 11 domestic fires occurred in January to June respectively. For bush fires only 18 and 14 incidents in January and February respectively, one each in March and May but nothing in April and June.

The PRO said the Service attended to an aggregate of 31 Rescue Mission= s /Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) in various parts of the region within the period, saying that those accidents involved 39 deaths and 30 injured. He explained that the highest number of deaths was 28 whilst injuries stood at 10 in May.

ADO Yeboah attributed the causes of domestic, electrical and other fires to improper handling and use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders and burners as well as the use of unwholesome electrical gadgets, equipment and faulty electrical connections.

He observed that game hunting, irresponsible disposal of pieces of lighted cigarette, negligence by some farmers when they cooked in the farm or their failure to construct fire belts in preparation of the slash and burn type of farming during the dry season, constituted the major cause of bush fires. The PRO expressed worry that currently the use of LPG by commercial drivers had been on the increase. He said some of drivers even used domesti= c gas cylinders and advised taxi drivers to adhere to the prescribed and appropriate gas cylinders meant for vehicles. ADO Yeboah appealed to Ghanaians to avoid over-loading switch boards with electrical devices and also ensure that qualified and competent electrical contractors or electricians were employed to undertake electrica= l works and connections.

He also reiterated that many of the imported electrical items and equipment in the open market nowadays were shoddy products and cautioned th= e general public that such items were dangerous and unwholesome to use.