Ho, Feb. 18, GNA-, Mr. Alex Martels Hughes, Volta Regional Fire Officer, on Thursday called for a Presidential Commission into the challenges confronting the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS). He said the recent high profile fires in the country constituted a distress call by the GNFS for attention.

"If we are well provisioned we would reach out everywhere", he told a meeting of Church leaders in Ho. The meeting discussed a wide range of issues relating to fire safety in church premises, homes, chronic bush fires in the Volta region and the need for fire safety consciousness in general. Mr Hughes, who is an Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO), lamented that successive governments seemed to have placed much emphasis on other areas of security to the neglect of fire safety which oversight is manifested in the state the GNFS.

He observed that ever since the GNFS was established, none of the Heads of State, had graced i ts passing out ceremonies nor had any of them visited the GNFS. "The GNFS had been made to feel like an orphan" while its counterparts such as the Police Service and the Armed forces continued to receive the honour of decision makers. Mr. Hughes said in France for example, the President is the Chairman of that country's equivalent of Fire Service Council and in others, there is a Ministry of Fire. According to him, there was a general lax on fire safety in the country, which attitude must change. He said the country's obsession for security to the neglect of fire safety was clear in the way home owners barricaded their windows and other exit points with burglar proofs. Mr. Hughes therefore urged Churches to help the GNFS to raise a new consciousness for fire safety in particular and safety in general in the in order to protect national monuments and assets as well the lives of citizens.

He said unless that was done, the country's heritage and soul would be at serious risk. Representatives of the churches expressed their appreciation to Mr. Hughes for alerting them to their obligations to their congregations and giving them tit-bits on fire safety. They suggested that similar interactions should be organized for school children, chiefs, and other organized groups of people.