Fire Service Personnel at the New Juaben South Municipal Command say they are living in fear of being attacked by angry residents any time they are called upon to put off fire.
According to the officers, the old Iveco fire tender with registration number FS 312 was brought in to replace the one they were using which had been decommissioned.
They complained that the Iveco truck is making fire fighting in Koforidua and its environs very tedious and dangerous.
The old truck which has been in use for more than 25 years now moves at a slow space and makes officers arrive late at emergency scenes when they are most needed.
Two months ago, personnel at the Akwatia station were assaulted by some residents at Asamankese following their late arrival to a fire scene at the Asamankese market and this according to officers at the New Juaben South station can happen to them anytime soon because of their truck.
When Citi News first visited the municipal command last month to get first-hand information about the state of the truck, after several calls from some assembly members and concerned citizens, mechanics were seen at the command busily trying to fix the fire tender.
The situation which has not improved has now worsened as water tubes used in their operation leak badly and are not able to hold pressure from the pumps.
Some of the officers at the command complained bitterly to Citi News.
“You are here and you can see for yourself the state of our truck. This old truck is what the thousands of residents rely on whenever there is a fire in the area but look at its state. The new one parked there has been booked out of commission for more than seven months now because of faulty injectors but for more than eight months now we keep hearing it will be fixed day in day out but it’s still the same and has been left at the mercy of the weather,” an officer said.
Another officer complained about how long they took to an emergency scene which is just four minutes’ drive away from the station.
“Last time we had a call to attend to a situation at Srodae close to the central market. Those in Koforidua know from our office to Srodae shouldn’t take us more than five minutes but for more than 40 minutes we were still stranded in the middle of the journey trying to get this truck moved to the scene. This was not the first time we have had this old truck leaving us in the middle of our work. Several times we call on the regional command to assist whenever this truck develops faults on our way and we are not happy about it,” he complained.
“It is our only prayer that what happened to our brothers at the Akwatia station does not happen to us. We know our lives are in danger now but we have pledged to serve so we want our commanding officers to as a matter of urgency fix the injectors of the new truck so we get it back on the road or give us a new truck.”
The post New Juaben Fire Service staff complain about old fire truck appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana, Current Affairs, Business News , Headlines, Ghana Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Articles, Opinions, Viral Content.
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