Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has opened a fire service Academy and Training School in Wungu, in the North East Region.
The state-of-the-art facility is the first ever fire academy training school in the North and the second in Ghana, after the only one in James Town Accra.
It comprises a three-storey administration block, classrooms, male and female dormitories, a dining hall and equipped with modern training equipment.
The school will undertake a wide-range and comprehensive training programmes, including rescue, evacuation, decontamination, fire prevention, fire suppression, rescue operations, hazardous materials management.
It will also train bushfire volunteers with skills and knowledge in the area of bush fire management.
Speaking at the inauguration of the facility, Vice President Bawumia, who is also the flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for this year’s general election, said, the opening of the training school, demonstrates the commitment of the NPP Government to expanding Ghana’s fire training capacity from what has existed since independence.
“The commissioning of this new Fire Academy and Training School at Wungu, marks an important milestone for the Ghana National Fire Service, the Wungu community and for the nation as a whole.
“When we assumed office in 2017, there was only one fire training school in Ghana at James Town. Given the importance of fire service in Ghana, it was important to increase the number of training School in Ghana. So we made the decision to increase it to four,” the Vice President indicated.
The opening of the Wungu Fire Academy and Training School, Dr. Bawumia noted, is the first of three new training schools the NPP Government is building, with the second also set to be commissioned.
“This commissioning means that this will be the second Fire Service Training School in Ghana. Very soon, we will Commission the third in Duayaw Nkwanta and the fourth will be commissioned before the end of this year,” Dr. Bawumia announced.
While touting the NPP’s remarkable efforts at adding up three training schools to the nation’s only training school since independence, the Vice President also highlighted the significant in fire service personnel, as well as the government’s commitment to continuous re-tooling of the Fire Service and other security services.
“What this means is that in 60 years of independence, we had only 1 fire service training School. Now we are going to have four under our government.
“When we came into office, officers were 7,000. Under seven years of the NPP, we have increased the staff strength of the fire service from 7,000, to 15,000,” he added.
Vice President Bawumia underscored the importance of firefighting and the difficulties associated with it, hence the need to adequately equip them.
“Firefighting is a critical aspect of emergency response, and having a dedicated facility such as this away from Accra will greatly enhance the training of our firefighters and ensure the delivery of the services provided by the Ghana National Fire Service and ultimately save lives in the country.
“Fire and other incidents can be incredibly devastating, and it is our duty as leaders to ensure that we equip our firefighters with the necessary skills and tools to effectively manage any situation being it fire or other emergency situations,” Dr. Bawumia said.
