Fire cases surge in first half of 2025 – GNFS
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has reported a slight increase in fire outbreaks nationwide during the first half of 2025, even as significant progress was made in other critical areas of public safety.
Between January and June 2025, a total of 3,595 fire incidents were recorded, just 19 more than the 3,576 cases reported during the same period in 2024.
This marginal rise of 0.53% is being closely monitored by the Service.
Despite this modest increase, the GNFS highlighted a major success of more than GHS 203 million worth of property salvaged during firefighting operations in the first half of the year.
This underscores the growing effectiveness of the Service’s emergency response capabilities and community engagement efforts.
One of the most significant improvements was a dramatic drop in prank calls to the fire service.
From 364,020 prank calls received in the first half of 2024, the figure fell sharply to 237,470 in 2025, a 34.77% decrease.
The GNFS credits this positive development to ongoing public education campaigns and heightened awareness around the legal consequences of abusing emergency lines.
According to a GNFS spokesperson, these initiatives are yielding results by freeing up vital communication channels for genuine emergencies.
The causes of fire incidents in 2025 remained largely consistent with past years.
The GNFS continues to identify illegal electrical connections, faulty wiring, overloaded circuits, and careless use of appliances as key contributors.
Unattended cooking particularly with gas or electric stoves remains a leading cause, along with open flames from candles and matches, gas leaks, bushfires, vehicle fires, unsafe welding practices, and deliberate acts of arson.
Regionally, the Greater Accra Region recorded the highest number of fire incidents at 628 cases, followed closely by the Ashanti Region with 581 and the Central Region with 408.
At the other end of the spectrum, the North East Region recorded the fewest incidents, with just 10 reported cases.
According to the GNFS, the slight overall rise in fire outbreaks is largely attributed to severe harmattan conditions in the early months of 2025 and continued non-compliance with fire safety measures among sections of the public.