Ghanaian actress, Beverly Afaglo
• The fire service failed to enter Beverly Afaglo’s house during a fire outbreak
• They complained of too much smoke emanating from the house, the actress says
• She recalls the officers stood idle for over 40 minutes while the house was wasting away in flames
What appears to be one of the worrying situations during the fire incident that occurred in Beverly Afaglo’s house was the lack of a prompt response from the Ghana National Fire Service.
According to Beverly, fire service personnel helplessly stood for over 40 minutes, knowing not where to begin from.
The actress said after a while, the only excuse they could give was that the smoke coming from the house was “too much”.
She said in spite of requesting over three extra backups, which comprises of trucks loaded with water, nothing good could come out of it.
“The fire service was there but over 40 minutes they didn’t know what to do. They said the smoke was too much so they cannot enter. Three extra trucks loaded with water came to the scene. They resorted to the use of a generator but for over 15 minutes it did not start,” she recalled.
“They stood there helplessly until the neighbours asked them to go to the back of the house through my neighbour’s side and that was how they started. I asked if they didn’t have a plan. Everything was gone. I couldn’t even take my passport. My kids were saved by God’s grace but I lost everything. The police were there, fire service was there but I lost everything.”
“In previous times, they use to complain of lack of water. Now they had lots of water but couldn’t do anything. Didn’t they have a plan? Must they wait to be informed on what to do? Didn’t they receive training? This country must learn to move away from partisan politics and get our priorities right,” Beverly added.
The Ghana National Fire Service in recent times has been labelled incompetent following the numerous fire situations that have worsened under their watch.
The entity has been criticised by Ghanaians on several occasions for an utmost display of untimeliness and the inability to salvage fire incidents that have struck the country. They include the recent Makola fire incident which occurred in July.
Meanwhile, the Ghana National Fire Service is yet to comment on Beverly’s account.
