The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has held a meeting with stakeholders in the housing industry on the Home Fire Safety Certification Project.
The project, according to GNFS, seeks to create a partnership between government and the private sector in the fight against fires at the domestic level in the country.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO), Kwame Kwarteng, in a presentation at the meeting held at the Coconut Groove Hotel in Accra, disclosed that the number of fire outbreaks in the country, particularly at the domestic level was worrying.
According to him, a total of about 188 persons lost their lives in fire outbreaks.
The deaths, he said, were recorded over the last five years – 2011 to 2015 in the country.
On average, the DCFO said, about 38 fire deaths are recorded annually in Ghana, which he said was worrying.
“We (fire officers) are doing well but the risk is the people living in homes; they are being careless and ignorant about fire.”
During the period under review, he said, GNFS recorded a total of about 24,500 fire outbreaks across the country, out of which 188 reportedly died, with 267 sustaining injuries.
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