Fire Safety in Zongo Communities in Ghana

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 HISTORY OF ZONGO

From the beginning, Ghana was one of those prosperous nations where people from neighboring African nations flocked to work and take part in Cocoa, Coffee, Cola, Gold, Diamond, and other businesses, handwork. Native Chiefs were giving the go ahead to offer lands to those immigrants to settle themselves comfortably to serve their labor. Every immigrant always has one thing in mind; work, make money and return home. That means no plan to build nice house or buy any permanent property. The giving lands were then used to put wooden and corrugated iron structures for few days. The homes remain the same chambers and halls, public kitchen in the compound, and public bath room and toilet at the back behind the windows. Within few years, their families grew up and were difficult to return home. Though these areas were not made for permanent settlements kept growing without, street, no school etc, because the areas were still not considered as registered residents. Now these are the filthiest areas and suburbs with high population. In case of fire breakout no access is available for the fire service to prevent fire spread.

The northern Ghanaian and non-Ghanaian immigrants whose descendants are today referred to as members of the zongo community began to settle in Ghana just before the beginning of this century, around 1896. The word zongo, a Hausa term meaning the camping place of a caravan, or the lodging place of travelers was used by the British to refer to the section of the town where Muslim traders lived. (Abraham 1962).

1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Fire safety refers to precautions that are taken to prevent or reduce the likelihood of a fire that may result in death, injury, or property damage, alert those in a structure to the presence of a fire in the event one occurs, better enable those threatened by a fire to survive, or to reduce the damage caused by a fire. Fire safety measures include those that are planned during the construction of a building or implemented in structures that are already standing, and those that are taught to occupants of the building. (en.wikipedia.org/fire_safety, 2011)

Fire protection requires science and technology to protect people and property from fire in designing new buildings or renovations to existing buildings. (Hurley, 2009). Fire protection has significantly existed over the past years in Ghana but the objectives of this institution have not been actually achieved yet (Ferka, GNFS).

Due to the complexities of human activities, fire hazards have gone up so the challenges in fire safety must therefore increase. In the year 2003, a legislative instrument named the Fire precaution (premises) Regulation 2003 LI 1724 was passed giving backing to fire service Act 537.