The Dormaa Municipal Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has cautioned farmers and palm wine tappers to handle naked fires with care to stem fire outbreaks in the area.
Station Officer Two ‘B’ Mr Samuel Adjei, the Rural Fire Coordinator of the Command gave the caution in an interview at Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Bono Region.
He said the command had trained over 1,000 fire volunteers in the Dormaa Municipality, Dormaa West, and Dormaa East Districts to check and control fire outbreaks in the areas.
The volunteers would be supported to intensify patrols in the local communities, he said, and warned that fire setters would be prosecuted.
Mr Adjei also advised farmers in the municipality and the districts to also construct fire belts around and to protect their farms against bushfires as the dry season sets in.
He said the command required collective support of the people in fighting bushfires and called on traditional Authorities, Assembly Members, and other opinion leaders to mobilize their people, weed around electricity poles and keep their communities clean too.
In the last dry season, Mr Adjei regretted that bushfires destroyed acres of farms, saying the fire volunteers would also expand their scope of operations to protect the forest and vegetative covers against bushfires.