The University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, has developed an Advanced Fire information system aimed at alerting the Ghana National Fire Service to respond promptly to fire outbreaks.
The technology was developed in partnership with some international organisations and has the capacity to detect and predict wildfires in the entire West African Sub-region.
[contextly_sidebar id=”s1hJRNPrDlLtWiwTL6S3HRfZ4YlZa9R5″]Officials of the University at a meeting with management of the Fire service, proposed moves to link the fire alert system to the information communications technology platform of the Fire service.
The Head of the Earth Observation Research Centre of the University, Dr Amos Kabo-Bah, who led a delegation to the Ghana National Fire Service Headquarters, stated that the Fire alert system will help manage fire outbreaks in the country.
Dr. Amos Kabo-Bah, speaking to Citi News, said the system would help the Fire Service fight fire better in the country.
According to him, “the uniqueness of this system is that, it collects data from two sources; now one source is the satellite information, in fact in our discussions with the Ghana Fire Service, we realized that if for an example you have a wild fire and a forest is burnt down somewhere completely, usually some of these statistics are not recorded because nobody is there.”
“The other part is that, we are trying to engage the use of inexpensive cameras that could also monitor especially in areas that is very difficult to locate by satellite like market places and the use of specialized sensors and the fact that our weather also controls the degree of the damage caused by fire because if you have a fire and the wind is blowing so strongly, it is possible that it may spread to other areas that if not controlled on time can also be destroyed.”
He added that, “the work we will be doing at the centre will be directly feeding into the Ghana national fire service control room (let me call it that way), so that in real time they can also see what is happening.”
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By: Michael ogbodu/citifmonline.com/Ghana