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The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has commended the management of the Kaneshie Market for its efforts at preventing outbreaks of fire in the market since it was established. According to the GNFS, the Kaneshie Market was the only market in Accra that had not experienced a fire outbreak since its inception in 1979. An Assistant Chief Fire Officer of the GNFS, Mr Ebenezer Sampson, said the accomplishment of the Kaneshie Market in keeping the place safe from fire was worth acknowledging. Mr Sampson gave the commendation at a public outreach programme organised by the GNFS in Accra last Thursday. He said the market was able to achieve success owing to prudent and foolproof measures put in place by the management. He said the training of market wardens who went round at the close of day and ensured all electrical gadgets left behind were put off was very laudable as it helped to prevent fire from breaking out. He further praised the management for acting purposefully to ensure that shops in the market had fire extinguishers. Presence of borehole He said the presence of a borehole in the Kaneshie Market was praiseworthy as it would provide the GNFS with a ready source of water when the need arose. He described the borehole facility as a �must have� for every market because it would make the job of fighting fire easy in case there was an outbreak. Mr Sampson suggested that markets be made spacious and properly demarcated to make it easy for firefighters and fire engines to get in and out. He urged other markets in Accra to emulate the example set by the Kaneshie Market with regards to fire prevention. �Rather than put in place measures to check fire after an outbreak, let us put the measures in place first before disaster occurs,� he said. He encouraged both management and traders at the Kaneshie Market to keep up the good work by sustaining the fire preventive measures they have in place. Outreach programme The outreach programme embarked on by the GNFS at the Kaneshie Market was held to sensitise the market women to always keep the market safe. A Group Officer with the Fire Education Department of the GNFS, Mrs Genevieve Nana Derby, urged the market women to rearrange items in their shops periodically in order to create convenient access ways in the market. She asked them to be more careful with fire especially in the harmattan season and desist from burning refuse close to stalls and sheds. She said the dry winds of the harmattan make it easier for fires to break out and that the slightest spark could lead to an inferno in the market. Complaints Madam Agnes Bentil, a trader at the market said she had received complaints from victims of fire disasters in other markets, who were her friends, that when the fires did occur the fire engines that appeared on the scene did not have water in them and wondered why that was so. Mrs Derby denied the assertion. She said fire engines were always refilled with water after use before they were returned to the fire station. �No fire engine goes out on an empty tank and comes back on an empty tank,� she said. She assured the management and traders that an instance of an empty fire engine appearing on the scene in the event of a fire outbreak at the market would not occur.