Bukari Pusigah, a security officer at the Accra Metropolitan Education Office in Tudu, has expressed disgust at the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) personnel, who are just a stone-throw away, for snubbing his distress call when his duty point was on fire.
Fire engulfed the colonial building which temporarily housed the Achimota College in 1924, having been put up in 1909 for the Government Teacher College. From 1928 to 1956 it was the headquarters for the Education Department of the Colonial administration, records of which are inscribed on a slab affixed to the side of the structure. The security man said he rushed to the nearby fire station on sighting the fire.
According to him, personnel, who were watching a soccer match between Uruguay and Ghana, told him to take the lead, as they would attend to the fire soon.As the fire intensified, he returned to the fire station. This time around, personnel said there was no fire tender available, whereupon he turned his attention to the Police MTTU, also nearby. Before this last resort, he said the personnel had told him, �Haven�t we told you the tenders are not working�.
Mr. Pusigah, who has worked with GES for more than 36 years, condemned the attitude of the officers and wondered why the government should continue investing money in the service if they cannot save property.According to Pusigah, the only thing left to do was to go to the MTTU for help to move some of the vehicles away. But that could also not materialize because they too complained of not having any towing vehicles available at the time.
Assistant Divisional Officer at the Cantonment Headquarters of GNFS, Frank Fearon, who was the fire officer available with his men, confirmed the story by saying his office was not informed directly by Pusigah. Rather, it was the Makola office that gave them a radio message too late. Before his men could get there however, the fire was out of control. �Due to the strong wind at the time, you know part of this building is an old wooden structure, so it took us close to 2am to put out the fire�, he said. Though the cause of the fire has not yet been established, Ado Fearon believes investigations could help.
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