Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, the Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Ghana National Fire service (GNFS), on Tuesday warned the personnel of the service against alcoholism and illicit activities.

He emphasized that a high sense of professionalism is required from every fire personnel or officer, and warned that his administration would not tolerate any misconduct from them.

Dr Gaisie gave the warning when he interacted with personnel of the service at the Hwidiem fire station in Asutifi South District and the Goaso fire station in the Asunafo North Municipality of the Brong-Ahafo region.

The CFO was accompanied by other officers from the service’s headquarters in Accra for five-day working visit to acquaint himself with the operations of the service in that area.

Dr Gaisie noted that, as fire men and women, personnel ought to be physically strong and knowledgeable in terms of rescue and fire suppression.

He observed that the behavior of some of the personnel of the service had reduced public trust and confidence in the GNFS, and warned that any personnel, who would breach the operational ethics of the Service, would not be spared.

Dr Gaisie emphasized the constitutional mandate of the service to fight fire, and periodically educate communities on causes and effects of fire outbreaks free of charge.

He said efforts were being made by the GNFS Council to renew the conditions of service of personnel as well as ensure that promotions of personnel were done as expected.

The CFO said in addition, certain portions of the law establishing the service were being reviewed so that some codes would be incorporated to widen the scope of the service in rescue missions.

Dr Gaisie said as Christmas approaches, it is the duty of the service to go round the various markets to educate traders and the general public on fire safety.

He tasked the various district stations of the service to draw realistic contingency plans for fire-fighting and suppression.

Dr Gaisie expressed concern about the poor staff strength of the service, especially at the district levels and hinted that the service would soon embark on a massive transfer of officers at the national headquarters.

He said the harmattan period would soon begin and charged the district commands to collaborate with the district assemblies and traditional rulers to enact and enforce bye-laws to control fire outbreaks.

He admitted that the service was aware of the various challenges, saying, though the challenges of personnel accommodation, logistics and inadequate staff seemed insurmountable it is doing all things possible to address the urgent ones.

Describing the visit of the CFO as a historic one, Divisional Officer three, (DOIII) Samuel A Amoani, the Asutifi South District Commander of the GNFS, noted that, for the past 20 years no CFO had visited the station.

He commended the CFO for his good works and appealed to him to address the accommodation problems of personnel in the area.