Why fire service dey struggle to fight fires for Ghana, as dem record 50 fire incidents in one week

One fire wey happun for market for Accra on Sunday 1 September burn for at least two days.

Di fire happun inside one storey building for di Zongo lane inside di Makola market; officials from di kontri fire service bin struggle to quench am.

Inside videos from di site, you go see thick black smoke from di building as di fire dey burn; traders and oda pipo wey don dey pass by bin dey observe wit shock.

Di fire service officers wey dey ground dey fight di fire no fit to reach di second floor of di building sake of di kind tins wey dey inside di warehouse.

Oga wey dey tok for di service, ADO1 Alex King Nartey explain say di fire don prolong sake of di building gat cracks.

“Some part of di building collapse, wey some oda parts bin get cracks so di personnel don escape from di site to avoid fatality.”

Im tok say di service bin dey investigate dis latest fire but dey neva go put diaserf and oda pipo around dia inside harmsway.

“We dey struggle to quench dis particular storey building fire also because di pipo gat plenty burglar proof and padlocks. Di items inside di fire also be tins wey fit to easily burn,” oga King Nartey tok BBC pidgin.

Di pipo also don use bricks to block di windows and oda parts of di buildings for dat area wey go make am difficult to access di structure in case of anoda fire.

So far a number of shops don dey affected, wia di fire service don secure about three banks wey dey close to di fire building.

As at di evening of Tuesday di fire service tok say dey don put di fire “under control” even tho some parts still dey burn.

“We still dey fight some pockets of fire for dat structure but we fit tok say e dey out of danger for now. We go dey di ground until we completely clear di place,” ADO1 King Nartey bin tok.

Traders wey dey around di site of di fire begin to dey sell face mask as di smoke don fill di whole area.

One pesin wey visit di area to buy some equipment don vex say all di shops for dat lane bin dey affected so im no fit to buy wetin im come buy.

Evans Ngman-Wara tok BBC pidgin say how di goment dey treat di fire service be bad.

"Dis fire dey burn for three days, see plenti fire service pipo for here, but dey no get di equipment to quench dis fire quick. But goment bin always dey buy armoured cars and V8 cars for di military and oda ministers; wetin dey go buy for di fire service, dey neva dey do am."

Over 50 fires don happun in one week

In di last one week, plenti fires don happun for di Accra and oda parts of di kontri.

Only last week, on 27 August, some part of di parliament of Ghana building bin catch fire.

Di fire wey catch one room on top di 12-floor parliament building don burn books, documents and oda furniture, even tho di fire service tok say dey manage to “salvage a few items.”

Na so di leadership of parliament don direct say make all staff go house to allow di fire service to deal wit am.

Di fire service say dem begin to dey investigate wetin cause dat parliament fire but even bifor dey go finish, dey gat to deal wit di Makola market fire wey bin dey burn for days.

ADO1 Alex King Nartey tok say “we don record ova 50 fires since last week, e fit be even more. Some na electric fire, some na domestic, vehicle fires wey odas happun for market and oda places.”

Di service don lament say pipo dey concentrate on dia security instead of safety.

“Pipo go protect diaserf wit burglar proof and padlocks and oda tins wey dem dey ignore fire safety protocols. Dis na big issue. Pipo don dey fear di tiff but dey no fear fire.”

Out of di ova 50 fire incidents, domestic fires and electrical fires bin dey cause di service sleepless nights.

“We see say many pipo dey hire unprofessional electricians wey some dey use high-load appliances for dia houses wey no get di appropriate wiring system.”

But why di fire service bin dey struggle to fight fires?

Over time pipo bin dey accuse di fire service say dem neva dey respond on time to fire emergencies.

For some areas, angry pipo bin chase di fire officers away, odas bin dey attack dem sake of according to dem, di officers don arrive at di fire scene late.

But di fire service say dem dey do dia best to deal wit fire emergencies wit wetin dem get.

For some areas, di service no get tenders, sometimes how to get water to di fire scene dey difficult.

Sometimes di areas wia di fire don happun dey congested.

“We gat issues wit some of our hydrants. Sometimes di hydrants for some areas no get water. But dat no be our fault.

Di last time di fire service don receive new equipment na 2014.

Sabi pipo bin tok say dis no dey acceptable for emergency service like di fire brigade, sake of dis time be when dey gat to have modern tools to deal wit fire.

For di service personnel, dis na ogbonge mata.

“Di time di goment give di service new equipment na long ago, im too dey affect our work. But as we don dey ask for dis tins, goment tok say dey go provide dem for us,” oga Nartey tok.

“Di goment don make commitment say dey go retool di service, I don hear tori say dey go give us new fire tenders and oda equipment; we don dey hope say dis tins go come soon so say we fit do our job well.”

Prank calls dey worry di service

In 2023 alone, di fire service don record ova 60,000 prank calls.

According to di service, dis na serious wahala for dia operations.

Oga Alex King Nartey tok BBC pidgin say “some of di pipo fit to call di control room and tok about tins wey no concern di fire service. Some pipo fit call di fire line and ask for food, airtime or moni. Some pipo also call di line to play wit di call executives; dis tin don dey worry.”

Dis prank calls fit dey prevent oda pipo wey gat actual emergency from reaching di service.

Dey tok say dem dey collaborate wit di police and oda security agencies to track dis numbers wey don dey prank di service call center.