Fire Service to dispose of obsolete equipment in 2018- Chief Fire Officer

The Acting Chief Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, (GNFS) Edwin Kuntu Blankson, says 2018 will be a year of modernization of the Service, during which period the GNFS is expected to discard most of its obsolete equipment and logistics to make way for new and modern fire-fighting ones. 

To this end, government has already committed itself to procure for the Service new equipment including a hydraulic platform tall enough to fight wildfire in every tall building in Ghana now up to 30 floors. 

The Acting Chief Fire Officer made this known in Kumasi at a meeting with staff of the GNFS at the Ashanti regional head office and district commanders of the Service as part of his one-day working visit to the region. 

Mr. Kuntu Blankson disclosed also that very soon, the GNFS will procure a modern Turn Table and other modern logistics for effective firefighting.  

Additionally, a Smoke Chamber will be built at the Fire Service Training School for the training of firemen. 

Mr. Kuntu Blankson said staff training and capacity building remain part of his top priorities to ensure that the personnel perform to their optimal best. 

It is in this regard that this year, 20 staff who have more than 10 years to serve will be sponsored to go abroad for studies who will return to help improve the performance of the GNFS. 

The Ashanti Regional Commander of the GNFS, DCFO Semekor Kwaku Fiadzo, said the incidences of wild fires recorded in the region last year declined by about 45 per cent compared with the figures recorded in 2016. 

DCFO Fiadzo said, with the onset of the dry season, the regional command will implement a strategy to suppress the occurrence of fire outbreaks in the region this year.

GBCONLINE
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