Kantamanto fire – Politicians must be blamed – Billy Anaglate writes
On the 16th of March, 2023, I published a feature captioned, MARKET FIRES ARE PREVENTABLE – ASSEMBLIES MUST SIT UP.
In that article, stated explicitly that fire prevention is a shared responsibility and if indeed market fires are to be prevented, then a big responsibility lies on the shoulders of the custodians of our markets, the Assemblies. It is a must that the Assemblies complement the efforts of the Fire Service to end or reduce the market fires in the country.
MARKET FIRE PREVENTION TEAMS WERE FORMED BY THE FIRE SERVICE
After the first market fire at Makola in 1992, which caused extensive damage to the Makola market, where wares running into millions of Ghana cedis were destroyed that year, the Fire Service constituted Market Fire Prevention teams.
They were responsible for fire safety awareness and education in the markets, conducting risk assessments and market patrols in all the markets. These annual risks assessment reports were submitted to the local Assemblies to implement the recommendations but the reports only gather dust on their shelves.
THE GOVERNMENT INVITED FIRE EXPERTS FROM THE USA TO ASSIST
Until 2013, after a series of preventable fire outbreaks on our markets across the country, the Government engaged the services of experts from the United States of America to investigate the causes of these perennial fire outbreaks. Expectations were very high that the work of forensic investigators was going to perform the magic to serve as the blue print to deal with fire-related issues on the markets. But it is one thing prescribing the medicine, and another, administering it.
The Assemblies once again failed to implement the recommendations from the forensic experts (which were replicates of those submitted yearly] to the Assemblies by the local Fire Teams. It is clear that until the custodians of the markets, whose interests are not in the maintenance but revenue collection, do need reorganization of the markets into well-defined structures, the infernos would continue to ravage our markets, like what recently happened at the Katamanto market where the Fire Service did all that they could, yet, could not salvage a single cloth or material let alone a structure.
STATE OF KATAMANTO MARKET BEFORE THE FIRE
Unfortunately, Katamanto Market like any other market in developing economies, do not have a well-planned and proper layout, so it is congested. Anytime fire breaks out in this market, it spreads very rapidly and becomes very difficult for fire tenders to get access to maneuvers for firefighting. Katamanto Market has no Fire Post manned by fire personnel which is a requirement and a must. The Assemblies failed to ensure segregation of occupancy, that is, similar items should be sold at designated locations and, highly flammable substances should be separated from other combustibles.
Routine checks and critical assessments at Kantamanto market indicate that it has no fire protection mechanisms and facilities and, hence, has safety lapses, including, obstruction of access routes to the market, and non-availability of adequate source of water for firefighting. It also has a very high reckless use of sources of ignition, electricity and naked fire. Again, there is no fire detection and warning systems and relevant firefighting equipment in Katamanto, not forgetting indiscriminate cooking and setting of fires
Equally offensive and criminal are mobile fufu vendors seen carrying embers, operating within the markets, these flaming embers may be blown onto combustible materials and ignite them. Add the foregoing to indiscriminate cooking and setting of fires at undesignated areas of our market.
Hanging over-aged electrical wires and circuits all over every structure with amateur electricians tempering with electrical circuits and indulging in illegal connections. Heaters and LPG and other similar gadgets that have the potential to cause fires were all in use in the market.
THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR FAILURE
Let us get things clear here, when these accusations are put to the Assemblies, they itinerant argue that government funding is not forthcoming … that the District Assemblies Common Fund is either unduly delayed or they come in trickles. One may ask, where do those market tools, taxes, rate, and fines go to? Who manages them? And itinerant fufu sellers with embers, are there no legislations or bylaws to stop them?
THE DOOM’S DAY
So pathetic was the recent Kantamanto fire that many traders were at home weeping, wailing and counting their losses. This is because many of these traders and business persons were in the yuletide celebration mood, only to be buffeted by this bad news. Indeed, several persons who had gone for loans to boost their businesses did not know what to do with themselves.
It was therefore, not surprising when a trader out of pains accused the fire Service of fighting the fire with petrol instead of water. This trader might be very right in expressing her painful opinion based on her observation that the more firefighters are fighting the fire, the more it was spreading.
FIREFIGHTERS DO NOT DESERVE ANY CONDEMNATION
HE WHO MUCH IS GIVEN MUCH IS EXPECTED. Nobody, absolutely nobody has the moral justification to blame the firefighters; they have done their best with the circumstances fronting them, although their best might not be best enough. They have exhibited the type of training they received. How do you expect a firefighter trained for 3 months to stand the test of firefighting especially the mixed cargo nature of fire they were faced with? Yes, such a fire is fought with Bombers and Helicopters not hand-held branches. Definitely, these fires are not meant for local ill-equipped FIREFIGHTERS.
POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
Until 2017, firefighters were trained in not less than 6 months. They were taken through the Chemistry of combustion, Physics, Building construction, and Electricity among others the least of which is foot drills. The purpose of the above scientific topics were to enable recruits have understanding of how material laced with chemicals and chemical solutions behave on fire and the importance of density of various flammable liquids when subjected to heat and, the determination of suitable extinguishing medium.
Physics would give you the rate of expansion and behavior of metals and rods when subjected to certain degrees of heat, be it in a column or pillar.
Building construction, among others, would establish behavior of woods and boards whether as a pillar or flat surface when in a fire situation and their rate of consumption.
With all these you would appreciate and identify a behavior and a colour of a flame to know the building is just about to collapse, similarly, a thick volume of smoke emerging with a coil wind rolling with a particular type of a colour should inform you of imminent explosion in a fire. All these qualities are totally expunged from our training hub, due to the limited time spent at the training ground what then is expected of these new firefighters, they do not deserve our condemnation.
Rather, an opportunity should be made available for them to be retrained according to our standards. It is boldly inscribed on our training school wall, HARD ON A TRAINING GROUND
EASY ON A FIRE GROUND, unfortunately, the training ground is turned to a pleasure ground, ARE WE SURE WE ARE STANDING TO THIS TEST.
Today, recruits are trained under 3months, Politicians have hijacked the recruitment process, they have thrown to the wind body selection, aptitude test and many other important selective procedures, Selection of qualified candidates are based on one’s political affiliation and it is done in the Jubilee House. How do you expect to recruit able bodied people of Fire service standard? It is a common and awful scene of having babies in uniform. The training ground is filled with nursing mothers, pregnant women, fat plump and other persons who from the word go, are not trainable and they are code named “my here my there” group. These so called protocol people have their mobile phones with them, which is forbidden and any slightest physical exercise they call their over lords and instructions are given to Fire Administration to that effect. Indeed, the hands of the Fire Service were squarely tight behind them by the powers that be.
WAYFORWARD RETRAINING OF INSTRUCTORS
- I recommend here that instructors at the various training schools be flown outside to be trained as real instructors. The practice where a person receives 3 months of training and he or she by his political affiliation is retained at the training school as an instructor must be stopped with. What can you impart to others when you do not have anything?
INTERNAL IN-SERVICE TRAINING
- It will be prudent and necessary to retrain the under trained personnel to build their capacity. Firefighting is technical and you do not expect any person with basic and substandard, inadequate training to be efficient and effective in the discharge of his or her duty. The protection of our lives and property is in the hands of these life savers. Their performance at the scene of an emergency will make the difference between permanent paralysis, death, minor incident or a disaster. It could be me, you or anybody irrespective of position class or status in life.
INSURANCE SCHEME
These noble firefighters are without insurance or a readily available Hospital to access quickly in the discharge of his duty to save the
life of another when he turns to be a victim of circumstances. Many firefighters today are dying slowly out of chemical and hot gases inhalation, exposure to heats during firefighting. There are also firefighters who lost their lives during emergency in a bid to saving lives and property. The dependants of these galant firefighters were left to resign to their fate. I therefore recommend that as has been the case of our sister services which I am very much aware that there is a provision at the ministry of the Interior that any personnel who lost his or her life on active duty is compensated and their dependents are duly taken care off, so should it be with the Fire Service to serve as a motivation to compatriots who work at the peril of their lives to save lives.RETOOLING
PREVENTABLE DEATHS ON OUR ROADSThe Fire SetNice is the only qualified service to protect and promote recovery of casualties during road traffic accident by ensuring dedicated and scientific extrication of casualties with additional basic hea Ith delivery. Indeed it is on record that many people who died after road traffic collision died not because of the impact of the incident but unprofessional handling of the casualties by bystanders.
RESCUE VANS
The Fire Set-vice must be equipped with rescue vans to be positioned at vantage points on our high ways to ensure rapid response to emergency. This will prevent non-professionals or bystanders who always happened to be the first attendants at scenes. Their bid to assist victims has mainly resulted in fatality after the initial incident. They approach casualties without any consideration or suspicion that there might be a spine injury so therefore the victim should be handled with care to avoid further injury and damage to the spine which, as a result, would make the difference between permanent paralysis and even death.
FIRE TENDERS
It is on record and in a public domain that on the 13th September, 2010 when firemen were performing their normal simulation exercise at the Cedi house with the view to testing the readiness of the personnel, as well as tra ining workers on the high-rise building to deal with such a situation when it occurred, a firewoman was unfortunately crushed to the floor and she died shortly after that. This raises further issues about the nation’s preparedness to deal with fire and other emergencies on high-rise buildings. It was in that vein that the then President of Ghana (May his soul continue to rest in peace), made a promise to Ghanaian to retool the Fire
Service and has delivered on that promise by purchasing over 200 fire Tenders to the Fire Service. Since then the fire service has not been equipped with standard fire Tenders. In effect, the fire service has those vehicles outmoded, not roadworthy and not fit for the purpose.Ghana currently has no standard Fire Station; a Fire Station should be equipped with two fire Tenders, a rescue van, mobile van, towing vehicle, water carrier and an Ambulance.
FIRE HYDRANT
A Fire hydrant is a pipe fitting shipped on a main water lines to enable the Fire Service access water for firefighting. The hydrant has a specification of 100metres interval installed along the roads and in communities.
A well maintained set off Fire hydrants are vital and necessary to firefighting operations because they provide the readily available water for firefighting.
According to statistics by the Fire Service, nearly 50% of hydrants in the Country are not operational. In Greater Accra, 126 of the 295 hydrants are not serviceable.
Ghana Water Company which receives 1% from the public for the purposes of installing, maintaining and ensuring uninterrupted water flow through the hydrants should be coerced to deliver on their mandate.
It is therefore worthy of note that President Mahama himself has sympathized with the traders, not only that, he also promised to retool the Fire Service and, hence, urged Fire Officers to work hard to reduce the incidence of preventable market fires, we trust that, with this word coming from the President. All other stakeholders will arduously join hands to ensure that market fires are reduced to the barest minimum. Of particular mention are the Metropolitan, Municipal and District (MMDA) Assemblies, traders, and others.
The writer, Dr Assistant Chief Fire Officer I (ACFO l) Prince Billy Mawuedoafiame Anaglate is the Oti Regional Fire Commander
Email: princebillyanaglate@gmail.com