An Induction Ceremony has been held in honour of Mr. Edwin Ekow Blankson as the 17th Chief Fire Officer (CFO) of the Ghana National Fire Service.

The short but impressive ceremony, held in Accra on Friday May 3, 2019, had the Minister for the Interior,  Mr. Ambrose Dery presenting the CFO before the officiating pastors for the induction service. Also present were Service Commanders from the other Security Agencies, Fire Service Council members, Directors of the GNFS, Diplomatic Corpse, traditional leaders, family, friends and well-wishers gracing the occasion.

CFO Edwin Blankson expressed appreciation to HE, President Akufo-Addo’ for the honour done him and pledged to work assiduously to fulfill the mandate entrusted to him.

He promised to work with all the humility and dedication required.

He appealed for the support of all firemen.

CFO Blankson, born on 29th September 1962 in Cape Coast, was enlisted into the GNFS on 1st December, 1989 after   successfully going through basic, secondary and tertiary education.

He is noted as the first graduate to have opted for full operational firefighting throughout his career.

He has also held many positions since his enlistment into the GNFS, which include Adjunct Instructor at the Fire Academy and Training School, Director of Operations, Regional Commander for Volta, Eastern, Greater Accra and Upper East, Director of Rural Fires, Director for Information Technology and Research, and Director of Technical  Services.

Academically,CFO Blankson possess a Graduate Certificate and Diploma in Management from Australian Institute of Business and an MBA from the same Institution.

He also holds Institution of Fire Engineers, IFE (UK) Membership Certificates in Aircraft Fire, Fire Investigations and Operations, graduate certificate in fire engineering from IFE.

He is also a certified Fire end Explosions Investigator and a member of the National Association of Fire Investigators (USA)

CFO Blankson is credited as the originator of Technical Fire Report Writing in the GNFS through the use of Expert Witnesses, sketches, photo indicators and fire pattern interpretation.

CFO Blankson was confirmed as the Chief Fire Officer in January 2019 after having acted as the Chief Fire officer from 7th September, 2017.