The Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO II), the Reverend Naomi Ofori-Adubea Sarpong, the Bono East Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has advised the public against putting up structures around fire hydrants.

She said the fire hydrants served as the only ‘life-line’ to fire fighting and urged the public to help protect hydrants in the supreme interest of the nation.

The Rev Sarpong gave the advice when she led a team of fire personnel of the command to inspect some of the hydrants in the Techiman Metropolis. They were accompanied by the Techiman Market Taskforce.

“The hydrants are the only source of water the firefighters rely on in combating fire outbreaks”, she said and urged the public to desist from putting up unauthorised structures around the hydrants.

That would make it easier for the firefighters to access the hydrants whenever there was a fire outbreak.

“During the inspection, we realised that some of the hydrants are covered with tiles and thereby making them not to function properly”, Rev Sarpong said.

She said fire safety preparedness remained crucial in fighting fire outbreaks and suggested the need to build more hydrants at the Techiman Central market, asking the traders and market women to also take fire precautionary and safety measures.

The Rev Sarpong also advised shop owners and businesses to acquire and install fire extinguishers at their workplaces too.