Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister has called on the public to handle naked fires with care to control fire outbreaks in the region, as the dry season sets in.

She said indicators showed the severity of the harmattan this year, and advised cigarette smokers, hunters, charcoal burners, and farmers, in general, to remain careful in handling fires and materials that could easily catch or ignite fires.

Interacting with a section of the media in Sunyani, the Regional Minister advised households and vehicles that used Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to be watchful as well, saying “LPG can easily catch and spread fire any little mistake we make.”

“We need to protect lives and properties because the harmattan will be severe this year. The environment is always prone to fires during the dry seasons, and everybody must be watchful enough to stem outbreaks of wild and domestic fires,” Madam Owusu-Banahene stated.

“Clearly, everybody can see the changes in the weather condition. We are experiencing extreme heat and we must all take precautionary measures,” she added.

Madam Owusu-Banahene advised households and vehicle owners which had no fire extinguishers to acquire some and advised the public to avoid bush burning.

“We must also try and stop keeping inflammable materials in our houses, offices, shops and markets places because that could easily ignite a fire,” she said advising everybody to remember to switch off electrical gadgets before they leave home for work.

She reminded drivers that the weather condition was always hazy, thereby, making visibility blurred, during the dry seasons, and asked them to always check their lighting systems and wipers before journeying and avoid speeding and wrongful overtaking as well.

Madam Owusu-Banahene commended personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) for intensified public education on the safe use of LPG in the region and urged the service to sustain the public education.

She said the devastating effects of the fire outbreak remained enormous, saying the nations lost huge revenue every year from institutional fire outbreaks.

The Regional Minister called on the GNFS to extend and intensify fire education in schools, markets places and social gatherings so the people to appreciate the effects of fire outbreaks and protect themselves.

May God protect us from any fire outbreak in Jesus` Name