Yesterday, Ghana woke up to news of loud explosions and inferno which had ravaged the armory of the Michel Camp Barracks, the base of the First Infantry Battalion of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Today too we have woken up to news of another fire. The Daily Graphic reports that as many as 80 stalls are reckoned to have been burnt down after a fire swept through the Odorna Market, otherwise called the Pedestrian Shopping Mall at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra Wednesday night.
News of fire outbreaks no longer surprises us anymore despite the valuable lives and property they destroy. We have gotten used to them. But such fire may come and go but not the lost and agony it bequeaths its victims.
Take for instance the heart-rending story of Mr. Ebenezer Ato Kessie, the Seventh-Day Adventist minister who lost a ‘family of five including a two-month-old baby to fire in Dansoman late last year, how should he be feeling now? His life, despite the kind and comforting words from the public, will never be the same again.
How about those who lost property instead, are their losses any less devastating? I doubt. For instance, a news report from Ghanaweb on fire outbreaks in the Ashanti Region covering the last decade estimate property loss of over GHC500 million. This is according to Desmond Ackah, Assistant Divisional Officer at the Regional Head Office of the Ghana National Fire Service.
Empathizing with such families are not enough. While we mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who have lost property, it would be irresponsible to do nothing. I suggest the following.
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