Over 270 fire outbreaks recorded during lockdown – Fire Service

A total of 272 fire outbreaks were recorded across the country during the coronavirus lockdown, which lasted three weeks.

This was revealed by the PRO of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Ellis Robinson Okoe.

According to him, gas explosions and electrical faults are the major causes of the inferno which resulted in the loss of lives and properties.

“We have recorded 272 fires within that period. It’s between the beginning of the lockdown and up to the end of the lockdown,” he told Accra-based Starr FM.

Mr Okoe also noted that the country witnessed this high number of fire outbreaks due to what he described as the negligence and carelessness of the people.

“It is our attitude towards these two things (gas and electricity) that have caused this. It is either carelessness or negligence that have resulted in these fire outbreaks through electricity or gas explosions,” he said.

He, however, cautioned the public against going close to naked fire immediately after applying hand sanitizers. He explained that the over 70 percent alcohol content in hand sanitizers makes it highly flammable, which means it could easily catch fire.

“Don’t go near fire immediately you apply hand sanitizer because your hands can catch fire when you do that,” he cautioned.

During the period of the lockdown in Accra, over 800 hundred wooden structures which served as residences for squatters at Old Fadama were razed by fire on April 7, 2020.

The fire, according to eyewitnesses, started at about 2 a.m.

The situation left thousands of slum dwellers in the area homeless. The inferno gutted several properties running into thousands of Ghana cedis.