The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has renewed its call for market women and traders to take fire safety seriously by implementing preventive measures and cooperating with authorities to ensure safer market environments.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Friday, STNO 1 Michael Walter, a fire educator with the GNFS Public Relations Department, issued an official statement expressing concern over the persistent recurrence of market fires and the challenges they pose to firefighting and emergency response efforts.
“Human beings inhabit the markets, so we talk to them about the need to protect their own lives. They are supposed to get fire extinguishers and some of the things that will help curb fires from breaking out,” he stated.
He revealed that many of the fires could be prevented if traders adopted simple fire safety practices and allowed district assemblies or development partners to help in reconstructing safer and more fire-resistant markets.
“We are speaking to the markets to allow the district assemblies to build for them. Even if they can bring in NGOs to build and pay later, I think it will be of help,” he stated.
According to him, one of the GNFS’s biggest challenges has been convincing traders to allow the service to engage with them. “It took one year to convince them to allow us to come and train them,” he disclosed, highlighting the resistance encountered during public education campaigns.
He also criticised the immediate rebuilding of market stalls following fire outbreaks without awaiting investigation outcomes or considering structural improvements.