The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has confirmed that a firefighter who sustained life-threatening injuries while battling the recent fire outbreak at Tudu near Accra’s Central Police Station is responding positively to treatment.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, a member of the Communications Department of the Ghana National Fire Service, Alex King Nartey, said the injured officer suffered severe facial injuries during efforts to contain the blaze.
“We were able to prevent civilian casualties, but one of our firefighters survived life-threatening injuries and we are hoping that he would be okay soon. He is responding to treatment,” he said.
The firefighter reportedly sustained serious injuries to his cheek and was rushed to the Police Hospital for emergency medical care.
Mr. Nartey disclosed that emergency responders faced significant challenges during the operation, including crowd interference and multiple explosions caused by gas cylinders and refrigeration equipment stored within the affected building.
“The interference from people around the scene made our work more difficult because we had to undertake crowd control together with our police colleagues while ensuring we had access to the heart of the fire,” he explained.
According to him, firefighters could not rely solely on water to extinguish the blaze due to the nature of the materials involved.
“People don’t understand that it’s not always that we use water to quench fire. We use foam concentrate for this kind of fire,” he noted.
Mr. Nartey said the presence of gas cylinders, deep freezers and live electricity in parts of the building increased the danger confronting firefighters.
“With the Tudu fire, when we got there, we had to grapple with a lot of gas explosions. The explosions were very intense because they had stored gas cylinders there, and there were several deep freezers as well. These freezers contain gases that explode when exposed to extreme heat,” he said.
He added that the age and structural condition of the building required firefighters to proceed cautiously to avoid further destruction and possible collapse.
“The building was also very old, so we had to tread cautiously. Otherwise, we would have caused more menace,” he stated.
The GNFS says investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
Mr. Nartey also urged property owners to prioritise building safety by engaging qualified professionals and conducting regular structural assessments.
“As an advice, people should be mindful and get qualified building technicians and from time to time do proper audits of the strength of their buildings just to be safe,” he said.
He further noted that contrary to public perception, the rainy season often records a high number of fire outbreaks, making fire safety awareness critical throughout the year.
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