The Agona West Municipal Command of the Ghana National Fire Service recorded 37 fire cases last year as compared to the 40 captured in 2022, DO3 DO III IS-haq Kambari, the Agona West Municipal Fire Commander has said.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, he said, the station recorded 13 cases in the first quarter of 2022 as against the 10 counted within the same period in 2023, representing 42 and 30 per cent respectively.

He said in the second quarter of 2022, a total of 14 commercial fires were recorded and it decreased to 12 in 2023, while in the third quarter of 2022 vehicular fire was nine as against four in 2023.

DO III Kambari said the remarkable achievements were made due to the performance of the dynamic fire volunteer groups formed by the station in the communities in the municipality.

The Fire Commander said the most worrisome challenge facing the personnel was the cause of fire through human activities at the last quarter of the year and that the Command had put in place effective mechanism to intensify campaigns to reduce fire outbreaks during Christmas festivities.

He said another problem had been the lack of water hydrants, which had made it extremely difficult to control fire outbreaks as expected to protect life and property.

DO III Kambari said he had taken steps to design a water hydrants map for the Ghana Water Company Limited to help construct new hydrants in strategic locations such as markets and government institutions.

He cautioned against prank calls by unscrupulous persons to fire stations and that anyone caught would be prosecuted because such acts created problems for real distress callers for assistance.