Fire stations in Western Region lack equipment

Story: Moses Dotsey
Aklorbortu, Takoradi
07/03/08

MOST fire stations in the Western Region cannot be described as fire stations as they lack the needed equipment to fight fire during emergencies.
Fire stations in places such as Shama, in the Shama Ahanta East Metropolis, Prestea in the Wassa West District, Half Asinni, Elubo and other parts of the region can best be described as fire posts where the focus is mainly on fire prevention.
According to experts, an ideal fire station should have a shed for fire tenders and an ambulance, crew room and a watch station, but the story at most of those stations across the region are different, except the regional headquarters.
There are no fire tenders, equipment as well as ambulances, not even crew room and structures for the staff.
Some of the fire posts have only buckets full of sand, posters on the wall and obsolete extinguishers.
In such situations, if there is a fire outbreak on a highway, the officials who were trained and had developed passion for the job would look on helplessly while property running into millions of cedis will be consumed by the raging fire.
Elubo experienced many fire outbreaks last year but the nearest well-equipped fire station in the area is Axim, a distance of about 78 kilometres away.
It is, therefore, very difficult for the firemen to bring fire under control when the need arises.
When the Western Regional Fire Commander, Mr Ekow Abban, was contacted on the issue, he attributed the problem of lack of tools for the various fire posts in the region to lack of infrastructure.
He stated that the fire tenders were also very expensive, adding that the job of the fire officer is a 24-hour service, therefore the structures that should house a fire station must conform with modern standards.
“The crew work for 24-hours, therefore they need a crew-room, tools, fire tenders, a good shed for the fire tenders and an ambulance as well as good environment for the crew. Without these facilities, the place cannot function well and it would cease to be called a fire station but rather a post,” Mr Abban said.
Mr Abban said various points in the region were all fire posts, where their focus was on fire prevention.
He said such a situation was not the best, and expressed the hope that the various district assemblies would make provisions for the building of well structured fire stations.