He also advised the public, especially workers, to switch off sockets and unplug all electrical gadgets before leaving their offices and homes to prevent fires.

Mr Dangbe made the call at a fire education programme last Wednesday at the Junction Mall, Nungua in Accra.

It was organised by the Junction Mall in collaboration with LEKMA Fire Station of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS).

Fire education

Seventy workers, drawn from companies operating at the mall and some volunteers within the Nungua municipality, were trained on how to fight fire during emergencies before the arrival of fire personnel.

The exercise covered a seminar and a practical session that enabled the participants to demonstrate their understanding of the education received.

Some of the issues addressed were types of fire, classes and causes of fires, methods of extinction and how to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) safely at home.

Mr Dangbe later told the Daily Graphic in an interview that 50 fire incidents were recorded in the LEKMA municipality between January and May this year, as against 76 recorded for the same period last year.

He attributed the reduction to the intensive training and education of volunteers and residents in the municipality.

LPG

The Assistant Station Officer at the LEKMA Fire Station, Mr Michel Acquaye, who instructed the participants, advised them not to open their gas before lighting their matches.

“Carelessness, ignorance, negligence and arson were the causes of fire, aside from heat, oxygen and fuel,” he said.

He then urged the participants not to overload their electrical extension cables.

Junction mall

The Operations Manager of the Junction Mall, Mr Kwame Nsiah-Wiafe, stated that the mall had experienced one fire outbreak since it opened its doors a couple of years ago, saying the low turnout was due to fire education the company had partnered the GNFS to embark on.

“This is about the third time we are organising this and to make it more coordinated; this time we included people from the community and we had two representatives from all the companies and our neighbours,” he explained.

He made it known that the company was equipped enough to fight fire anytime it occurred, although they had put preventive measures in place.