The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has urged the public to stop making prank calls, highlighting the detrimental impact such actions can have on their ability to respond to genuine emergencies.
This call comes despite a decrease in fire outbreaks in 2023 compared to 2022, particularly in the Ashanti Region, which has recently witnessed several significant fires.
While the recent fire incidents in the Ashanti Region have raised concerns, the GNFS revealed that overall fire outbreaks have decreased this year. However, their efforts to combat fires are being hampered by a surge in prank calls.
The Ashanti Regional Fire Commander, ACFO Henry Fatai Giwah in an interview with Citi News expressed deep concern over the alarming number of prank calls received daily.
“Prank calls persist. Every day when you go to our control room, even right now. You see the number of prank calls that come. Averagely, more than 200 a day.
Giwah emphasized the dangers posed by prank calls. “And at times if you don’t do your inquiries properly and you dispatch, you realize you dispatch to the wrong place. And that’s why at times when you even call, we want to call you back.
“One thing we do is that when you call, because of these prank calls, when you call fire service, we always want to call you back. And even listen to the environment where you are.”