Fire Service not equipped to fight fires in high-rise buildings
The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Mr Kweku Agyeman Manu, has expressed concern over the springing up of high-rise buildings in the country in view of the inability of the Ghana National Fire and Rescue Service (GNFRS), to effectively contain fire should any occur in such buildings.
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His concern was informed by information by the Chief Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire and Rescue Service (GNFRS), Dr Albert Gaisie, that the institution had only three turn-table ladders that could reach only the sixth floor of buildings.
Much more worrying, according to Mr Agyeman-Manu, was the fact that the high-rise buildings did not have helipads.
He wondered why the GNFRS certified the Job 600 building for use by Members of Parliament as offices.
The Job 600 office complex, is a 13-floor building.
PAC sittings
At its sittings last Tuesday in Accra, Dr Gaisie told the PAC that the institution had only three turn-table ladders that could reach only the sixth floor of any high-rise building.
He told the committee that in the event of fire outbreaks in buildings that had more than six floors, firefighters would have to manually climb to the extra floors.
He, therefore, suggested that contingency measures to be put in place to save the occupants of high-rise buildings.
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For instance, Dr Gaisie said emergency exits needed to be created.
He said the danger that the occupants of such extra floors faced was inhaling the smoke which could also be dangerous.
Safety audits
Dr Gaisie said the service had conducted more than 3,000 fire safety audits, but the implementation was a difficulty.
He, therefore, requested Parliament to give the service "more powers to demolish those structures".
PAC worried
A ranking member of the PAC, Mr Abubakar Dey, asked the chief fire officer to explain how he could escape fire from his office on the eleventh floor of the Job 600 building.
Dr Gaisie told him that firefighting officers would only use the turn-table ladders to the sixth floor, and then climb to the eleventh floor for the rescue mission.
Fire kills 255
The Auditor General's 2013 report indicated that a total of 255 human lives were lost through fire outbreaks between 2006 and 2012.
It said 362 injuries were recorded during the period.
The report indicated that the international standard drive time to fight fire, which should not exceed four minutes, was 12.5 minutes for the GNFRS.
It said 3,187 fire outbreaks were attended to in the country between 2006 and 2012.
The estimated cost of damage to property was GH¢403 million.