General News of Thursday, 10 July 1997

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Dress Makers, Cooks Cause Of Tema Market Fire Outbreak?

Tema (GAR), July 9, About 70 per cent of fire outbreaks at the Tema central market are caused by the negligence of dress makers and people who cook food there, Mr Cornelius Woedi, Tema Municipal Fire Officer said at a seminar at Tema yesterday. He said while seamstresses and tailors forget to remove pressing irons and machine motors from their electrical sockets, those who cook food in the market also do not rpt not quench their fires properly. Mr Woedi therefore called on the traders to be conscious of what they do to prevent fire outbreaks. He also advised against overloading electrical sockets. Mr Woedi denied during question time that firemen from the Ghana National Fire Service usually send empty fire tenders to the scenes of fire only to go back to their stations with the excuse of going to draw water. He explained that fire tenders always contain water but have to be re-filled when the water is finished. Mr Samuel Ocran of Vanguard Insurance Company called on market women and traders to insure their businesses against any disasters. The participants suggested that fire tenders must always be accompanied by water tankers for immediate re-filling to avoid the tankers going back to their stations for that purpose.