The Deputy Tema Regional Fire Officer has appealed to Journalists to help clear wrongful perceptions about fire fighting procedures of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) held by some members of the society.
Divisional Officer I (D.O. I) Timothy Affum said this during a One-day Basic Fire Safety Workshop organized by the GNFS to inform the media in Tema about their operations as part of the Services’ bid to involve the press in their fire safety awareness campaign.
“There are eye witnesses who say when fire tenders came they are without water. But I am surprised that a lot of us report what the purported eye witnesses say without even getting their names or who they are,” D.O I Affum said.
He explained that even fire tenders that were out of commission contained water “so if an out of commission vehicle still contains water, what about the vehicle that is in commission.”
He observed that sometimes during fire-fighting some tenders came to supply water to other tenders that were in position.
He said, “So you come and discharge water to the base pomp and go in search of water when we don’t have a continues flow of water. But somebody would think the fire tender came and just went back.”
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Tema Regional Fire Commander, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) Frances Rockson, said the workshop was organized “to train the media as part of Management’s policy to partner the media in its quest to provide an efficient and reliable reportage on fire safety and rescue services to the people.”
She was optimistic that the forum would give media practitioners an insight into the mode of operations of the GNFS in order to better report on fire related issues.
He added that, “As we give you information about the Fire Service and also break away from the protocol associated with making inquest about the Service, it is expected that you would be exposed to the use of some fire equipment, be familiar with some of our technical terms and also help us correct some negative perceptions of the public about our service.”
ACFO Rockson said, “I believe that, as partners in development, we can steer the wheels together to get the people to appreciate fire safety better.”
As part of the training, members of the press were educated on the chemistry of combustion, classification of fires, fire extinction, fire extinguishers and fire hydrants.
They were also informed about fire certification, fire reports acquisition, familiarization of appliance, vehicular fires and what to do in case of fire outbreaks.
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