Dozens Of Electricity Poles Burnt Into Ashes By Bushfires

Dozens of Electricity poles in the Eastern Region have been burnt as bushfires ravage parts of the region.

The increasing bushfires are threatening uninterrupted power supply and causing damages as many electricity poles have been affected.

Over 150 bushfires have been recorded so far in the region this year. The bushfires are reportedly being caused by hunters, farmers, cigarette and weed smokers.

 February 1, 2022, for instance, a blazing bushfire outbreak occurred along the Koforidua to Akyem Kukurantumi road. It took the intervention of the Fire Service and Community volunteers to fight the fire for hours.

The intervention of the Ghana National Fire Service helped protect about 15 electricity poles from being burnt down completely.

A poultry farm worker told the soiree news the fire started from a nearby forest “I was in here when we saw fire outbreak from the forest which spread quickly to other parts of the road. so we the help of my friend we started creating a fire belt around my poultry farm. some other opinion leaders and residents from Kukurantumi also came around and helped us control the fire by pouring water into it. We watered around the electricity poles but still, some got burnt because of the intensity of the fire.

The Eastern Regional Public Relations Officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Emmanuel Halm told the media, apart from the interruption of power supply and damages being caused to electricity poles by bushfires, the company is spending huge sums of monies to get the affected poles replaced.

For some time now the electricity company of Ghana in the Eastern region has observed a very worrying trend which is in respect to the bush burning that is taking place and its effects on our network. We have had this challenge over the years and every year we appeal to the general public to support us in this direction.

Story By Kwaku Donkoh.