Abondoned broken bottles on the field and mosquito spray cans (aerosols) can cause bushfires.
This happens when the suns’ rays directly fall on the broken bottles exposed on the field and as a result the rays radiate heat which results in spontaneous ignition (fire outbreak) without any external source of heat.
Aerosols are substances enclosed under pressure and released as a fine spray by means of a propellant gas.
This was disclosed by the Divisional Officer (DO) of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Deputy Public Relations Officer (P.R.O) Prince Billy Anaglate in an interview with the Spectator.
According to him, another phenomenon which can cause fire outbreak in homes is when rags used to clean flammable objects are left in an enclosed area such as store rooms or waterhouses.
“The tendency of regenerating heat resulting into spontaneous ignition is high”, he noted.
He said all these combustible materials had their ignition temperatures (ambien temperatures) at which they start burning
DO Anaglate, therefore, advised people to reduce the fuel load (anything that can burn) such as shrubs, grass, wood loads, tree and leaves within this harmattan season to prevent fire outbreaks.
He explained that anything that causes fire needed to change its state from the solid to the gaseous state or from the liquid to the gaseous state. He said people must be very cautious in the season, especially when using gas. Gas fires, he said "are very dangerous because it is already in the gaseous state".
He cautioned that every broken bottle should be disposed of properly by burying it to prevent direct sunlight on it.
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