A new firefighting technology that requires less water and time has been demonstrated in Accra, ahead of its adoption by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to enhance its operations.
Developed by Advanced Firefighting Technology (AFT), a German based company, the new technology uses water mist, a combination of water and air, contained in mobile and portable equipment, to douse fire.
Droplets of the water mist, dischargeable through specialised nozzles attached to the equipments, absorb heat and extinguish any inferno in a short time.
As part of the demonstration done yesterday at the Fire Academy and Training School, a rickety taxi was set ablaze and the fire extinguished in no time with the technology.
This was witnessed by officials from the energy and security sectors and regulatory bodies, including the Ghana Standards Authority which would later assess and certify the technology for use in the country.
Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Mr Edwin Ekow Blankson, in a speech read on his behalf, said the company would complete the necessary paper work for approval by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Fire Service Council.
The event, he said follows, a visit by the company ‘s local representative, Mhoseenu, last month to introduce the technology and subsequent training of one Ghanaian fireman and others from the Federal Fire Service of Nigeria at the AFT factory in Germany.
CFO Blankson said the interest in the technology was in line with the service’s resolve to explore innovative ways to be retooled with modern fire suppression equipment and build its human resource capacity in line with global standards.
“Technology based solution is fast replacing conventional approaches to incident response and those of us in Ghana cannot afford to be left behind,” he said.
CFO Blankson lauded the use of a minimum quantity of water because it would help address the challenge of inadequate fire hydrants or water supply for fire fighting in most communities.
Mr Nabil Sa’ad, AFT’s Director in charge of Middle East and Africa, said the technology outperformed the conventional firefighting devices in terms of efficiency and environmental and personal safety.
He said the AFT products which came in different sizes and types, including backpacks, trolley and pick-up mounted types had been carefully designed with the best technology and was the country’s best option for rapid response to fire.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR AND DOROTHY BROCKE
