Only 13 fire hydrants functional in Koforidua; 38 Are ‘dead’
Eighteen of the 38 fire hydrants in Koforidua have been buried by some contractors who undertook road projects in the municipality some years ago.
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Some of the existing ones have also not been maintained by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) although they charge one per cent on every water bill for such maintenance programmes.
Currently, only 13 out of the 38 hydrants are functional.
Additionally, none of the 20 district stations, including Kade, which recorded eight fire outbreaks between January to March this year, have fire hydrants.
Challenges
The situation, according to the Deputy Regional Fire Commander, Divisional Officer One, Owusu Adjei, posed enormous challenges to fire fighting activities in the region.
Under the circumstances, he said, firemen were compelled to travel longer distances to get water to support their fire-fighting activities.
Mr Adjei said his outfit had already informed the Eastern Regional office of the GWCL on the need to reactivate all the dysfunctional fire hydrants in the municipality.
Fire hydrants are installations on main waterways that allow fire tenders to draw additional water to boost water pressure.
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"Hydrants are for supplementary water. The capacity of fire tenders is 1,500 gallons which can finish in just about four minutes when dispelled at full pressure," Mr Adjei explained.
Fire outbreaks
There was, however, a reduction in fire outbreaks in the region. It recorded 167 fires between January and March this year as against 176 cases during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, domestic fires increased from 56 in the first quarter of last year to 76 this year.
Mr Adjei linked the increase in domestic fires to power fluctuations. According to him, some people sometimes forgot to switch off their electrical gadgets when the lights went out. He advised that all gadgets were duly switched off before occupants left their respective homes and offices.