The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) is to establish a visibility team called “Community Fire Prevention Unit” to help reduce persistent fire outbreaks in the country.

The Unit would be responsible for sensitising the citizenry mostly at public places on fire prevention.

This was disclosed to the media by the Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Dr. Albert Brown Gaisie, during the climax of his tour of fire stations in the Greater Accra Region.

He said personnel would be drawn from various stations to constitute the team, which would be resourced to execute the task in all the regions of the country.

Addressing the gathering, he said, most fires were preventable, adding that the GNFS would not wait for fire outbreaks to occur before fighting them.

“The service is moving from reactive to proactive, where they would help save lives and properties”, he said.

According to him, the nation lost a lot of money and resources through fire outbreaks, which in the end, affected the economic growth of the country.

He said for the government to overcome this, it would be prudent for his outfit to sensitise people on their responsibilities in the prevention of fire outbreaks.

He said the Fire Service would enforce fire safety regulations and Intensify education, adding that if fire outbreaks do not occur, they would save logistics and would not always have to put personnel at risk.

He charged the Fire Service personnel to be proactive to cope with the modern trends in fighting fire, adding that his administration would not countenance laziness and indiscipline.

He also admonished them to guard against any recruiting scam to dent the hard won reputation of the institution.

CFO Gaisie urged all the Fire Stations to open their doors to the citizenry to establish a cordial relationship to enhance firefighting.

He revealed that the service had been resourced by government, and must justify that by being proactive and efficient in their work.

“Fire equipment are very expensive, and to whom much is given, much is expected”, he added.

The Accra Chief Fire Officer (ACFO), Ebenezer Simpson, in his welcome address said in January 2015, Accra recorded 174 fire outbreaks, as compared to 138 in January 2016, which was a 26 per cent reduction.

He attributed the strides made to intensified campaign from December 2015.

ACFO Simpson revealed that his outfit in collaboration with the Safety Directorate at the National Headquarters, organised a float through the principal streets of Accra to educate the general public on basic fire safety tips.