Kumasi Jan 15, GNA - The Ashanti Region recorded a total of 735 fire outbreaks in 2008 with an estimated cost of GH¢4,691,443 as against 779 case in 2007 with an estimated cost of GH¢3,937,974.

Mr. Obeng D. Dwamena, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) who mentioned this attributed the reduction to intensification of public education on fire prevention, precautions and the public realization that fire outbreaks are preventable and commended his staff for the achievement.

Mr. Dwamena, who is the Ashanti Regional Fire Officer disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi on Thursday and said although the number of cases has reduced, that does not call for celebration since more could be done to reduce fire cases to the barest minimum in the region. He indicated that domestic fire topped the list of cases in 2008 with a total of 343 cases with vehicular having 99, followed by commercial fire which recorded 89 cases, bush fire recorded 64 outbreaks while industrial fire had 51 outbreaks.

The Regional Fire Officer expressed concern that despite the massive public education, domestic fire continues to record high figures and appealed to the general public to adopt simple fire safety measures to safeguard them from losing their lives and properties. He commended the media for its role in fire safety education and urged the general public to call 192 when there is fire for quick response instead of calling radio stations since it may happen that his personnel may not be listening to that particular station at that particular time when the announcement would be made. Mr. Dwamena mentioned that due to the intensification of the dry season, there was the need for people to be careful with how they handled fire at home, on the farm and other work places. The Regional Fire Officer urged farmers to observe fire safety measures such as creating fire lines before burning their farm and make sure all forms of fire in the farm are properly managed to avoid any form of fire outbreak.

He cautioned palm wine tappers and other fire users in the bush like hunters to be careful and adopt modern methods in their operations to help prevent bush burning which could lead to the destruction of the vegetation in the country especially the forest. 15 Jan. 09