Chief Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, Julius Kuunuor, has said that, the service recorded a total of 656,591 prank calls from the public between January and November 2023.
He made this statement during the Thanksgiving Service of the 60th Anniversary Celebration for just retired senior officers.
According to him, the prank calls had put the rescuers lives in danger and wastage of the services’ fuel.
He urged the public to abandon such practices, stating that such behaviors would not be entertained by the service in 2024 and beyond.
The Chief Fire Officer, Julius Kuunuor, further highlighted that, fire outbreak reduced by 4.92 percent for the first eleven months of 2023, with 5256 incidents recorded as compared to 5,530 incidents recorded in the same period in 2022.
“This reduction was attributed to nationwide public fire safety education and through timely intervention of the service, property worth million of cedis was salvaged”, he said.
Mr. Kuunuor also disclosed that, the service has plans to build clinics in all regions and commence the construction of a fire trauma hospital to provide adequate healthcare for personnel and the public this year.
“It is in the process of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with some universities to train Fire personnel in the relevant fields from undergraduate to postgraduate programs”, he added.
The University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), and the University of Energy and Natural Resources are being engaged for the training.
“The Service, in collaboration with the Government, is in the process of procuring Fire Appliances and Equipment, including Dual Purpose Tenders, Water Tankers, Rapid Intervention Vehicles, and Utility Vehicles and Command Vehicles in 2024,” Mr. Kuunuor said.
The new appliances will replace the obsolete fire appliances at the Fire Stations and also ensure the opening of more Fire Stations to improve response time.
