Deputy National Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, Prince Billy Anaglate, has expressed surprise at recent fire outbreaks plaguing the capital.

He said the service last December embarked on several educational projects to sensitise the public on safety measures which should be adhered to during the harmattan period so the fire outbreaks in the New Year is “a surprise to us’.

Speaking on Peace Fm’s morning show, ‘Kokroko’, Mr Anaglate said “we trained several volunteers in various communities who did not have service stations on what to do and how to handle a fire outbreak. So to be receiving information on fire outbreaks is a surprise to us.”

On Friday January 2, 2015, a six-year-old girl died following a fire outbreak in Osu, a suburb of Accra.

A nine-month-old baby who sustained burns during the fire also succumbed to the injuries a day later.

The fire is suspected to have been caused by an electric wiring problem. The blaze spread into five rooms of the family home and it took the intervention of the Fire Service to prevent the spread to other buildings.

Fire also gutted the Stallion Industrial and Investment Company car park in Tema on Saturday January 3, 2015, destroying 31 saloon cars.

Fourteen other vehicles which were parked at the car park were also partly destroyed.

That same day, fire gutted a Melcom warehouse and service centre at the Industrial Area, which stores most of the outlet’s electrical gadgets.

Mr Anaglate insisted all these fire outbreaks could have been prevented if people adhered to simple safety practices.

Commenting on blames being laid at the doorstep of the service for almost always delaying when called, he said they are always on time whenever there is an emergency.

He was however quick to add that any delays could be due the closeness of the site to the nearest fire station and the availability of water in various fire hydrants.

“We should not lose sight of the fact that some communities do not have service stations and we have to journey before we get to them... some fire hydrants do not have water in them so we have to look for water in situations like that before we can get to the scene of the fire.”

He also indicated that people try to extinguish fires in case of an outbreak and only contact the fire service when the situation gets dire and that accounts for the delays sometimes.

Mr Anaglate advised that the public have at their fingertips, emergency numbers of the service and that placing calls to it in times of an outbreak should be an utmost priority.

He said emergency number 192 and the landline number 0302 772 446 are always available and that its customer service personnel are ever ready to assist at all times but added that callers should ensure they are equipped with the right information such as the proper location to the area of the fire.

He cautioned that people should stop building haphazardly and desist from putting structures on fire hydrants.

Commercial organizations according to Mr Anaglate must ensure that they equip their facilities with the appropriate fire safety equipment.

He assured that the Fire Service is always willing and ready to assist anytime they are called on but insisted that it is most important is to cultivate safety culture habits, adding that it is the only way the rate of fire outbreaks will dissipate.