The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has identified poor accessibility and logistical shortages as major obstacles to their operations following recent floods.
According to the service, containing the Odawna fire outbreak became exceptionally difficult because floodwaters blocked their fire trucks.
DOII Alex King Nartey from the GNFS Public Relations Department explained that teams were forced to wait for the waters to recede before they could safely reach the scene.
Speaking on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he highlighted that the service remains severely constrained logistically, pointing out that they do not own a single boat for rescue missions.
“Logistically we are constrained. As a Fire Service, we don’t have a single boat for rescue missions. At Tse Addo, while providing support to rescue people, we had to wait for the Police and other agencies to bring along a boat before we could work. But in rescue missions, every minute counts. So we are appealing that we need a boat as a Service. Should we get a firefighting boat, it will be good because we can install the pumps used in fighting fire so that when we get to flooded locations, we can easily contain outbreaks too. Moving forward, I would say that access and logistics were serious challenges.”
To address these resource gaps, Nartey appealed to corporate bodies, individuals, and business owners for assistance.
“We also appeal to corporate bodies, individuals, and business owners to support us by donating pickups to help with our work. We can convert these pickups into rapid intervention vehicles.”
He concluded by noting that fire tenders are not always suitable for every rescue scenario, whereas converted pickups would provide the agility needed for rapid response during such incidents.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
