The Minister for the Interior, Mr. Ambrose Dery has commended the Ghana National Fire service (GNFS) for reduction in fire outbreaks.

According to the Minister, the 41 percentage reduction in 2017 from 2016 outbreaks is as result of the intensification of fire safety education campaign.

The Minister said these at the End- of- Year Get-together of the GNFS held on Friday, January 12, 2018 at the GNFS Headquarters in Accra.

“In 2016, this country recorded a total of 6,981 fire outbreaks compared to the same period in 2017 which recorded 4, 544 fire outbreaks”, he explained.

Mr. Dery noted that fires, including bush fires are threats to the security of the State and therefore called on all to ensure that no effort is spared in finding a total fire safety in the country.

The minister implored personnel to do more to further reduce fire outbreaks whilst appealing to the public to compliment the efforts of the GNFS by availing themselves for fire safety education, because most of the fires can be avoided if we are a little more careful.

He noted that government is committed to resource the Fire Service with various modern firefighting and rescue equipment including hydraulic platforms to aid and assist in their operational duties.

“It is my hope that when the equipment are procured it would be put to proper use and maintained”, he added.

He applauded the One District; one well equipped Fire Stations concept by the new Acting Chief Fire Officer and was hopeful it would go a long way to improve tremendously on response time to emergencies.

He assured the service of government’s is commitment to supporting the efforts of GNFS to expand even in area of manpower strength.

He cited the current recruitment exercise as a clear indication of Government’s preparedness to deliver on its promises.

The Acting Chief Fire officer, Mr. Edwin Ekow Blankson in his welcome said he would focus on improving the capacity of officers both locally and international. He appealed to the Minister to assist in securing housing accommodation for officers to improve service delivery.

Other personalities present at the function included the Deputy Minister for the Interior, Henry Quartey, members of the Fire Service Council and the Head of Agencies under the Ministry of the Interior.