ECG Ghana Steps Up Bushfire Prevention to Safeguard Power Supply in Volta and Oti Regions

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has launched a major intensified bushfire prevention and public awareness campaign in the fire-prone Volta and Oti Regions. This proactive initiative, running in partnership with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), aims to protect critical electricity infrastructure from devastating seasonal fires, particularly during the harsh Harmattan period. The campaign focuses on community engagement, hands-on preventive clearance, and education to mitigate human-induced bushfires that frequently cause widespread power outages, economic damage, and safety hazards.

Introduction: The Urgent Threat of Seasonal Bushfires to Ghana’s Power Grid

Ghana’s dry season, characterized by the Harmattan winds, brings a significantly elevated risk of bushfires across many regions, with Volta and Oti being particularly vulnerable. These fires, predominantly caused by human activity, pose an existential threat to the nation’s electrical infrastructure. Wooden power poles, overhead cables, and distribution transformers are highly susceptible to fire damage. A single major bushfire can destroy miles of infrastructure, leading to prolonged power outages, costly repairs, and disruption to homes, businesses, and essential services. Recognizing this annual crisis, ECG has moved beyond reactive repairs to a proactive, community-centric defense strategy. This article details the campaign’s objectives, methods, and the critical role of public cooperation in ensuring a stable power supply during Ghana’s most fire-prone months.

Key Points of the ECG Prevention Campaign

• Targeted Regions: Focus on Volta and Oti Regions, identified as high-risk zones for bushfire activity.
• Primary Partnership: Collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to maximize community reach and educational impact.
• Core Strategy: Combination of intensive public awareness education and practical, on-ground preventive measures.
• Physical Defense: Creation of “fire belts” or firebreaks—strips of cleared land—around electricity poles and substations to halt fire spread.
• Community Empowerment: Mobilizing local residents, traditional authorities, and district assemblies to become active participants in protection efforts.
• Root Cause Focus: Addressing the human behaviors (indiscriminate burning, careless farming) that cause over 90% of Ghana’s bushfires.
• Goal: To minimize fire-related power outages, protect national assets worth millions of Ghana Cedis, and ensure reliable electricity supply throughout the dry season.

Background: Why Bushfires Are a Critical Issue for ECG and Ghana

Ghana’s Bushfire Epidemiology

According to the Ghana Fire Service and environmental agencies, bushfires are a recurring national disaster, with thousands of incidents reported annually. The dry, windy conditions of November to March, peaking during the Harmattan, create perfect tinderbox conditions. The primary cause is anthropogenic (human-induced), including:

• Agricultural burning (preparing farms, post-harvest clearing).
• Hunting fires that get out of control.
• Careless disposal of cigarette stubs and matches.
• Traditional practices like “slash-and-burn” agriculture.

These fires rapidly consume dry vegetation, spreading uncontrollably into forest reserves, farmland, and ultimately, areas with critical infrastructure.

The Vulnerability of Electrical Infrastructure

ECG’s distribution network relies heavily on wooden utility poles (though some are concrete or steel) and overhead conductors. These structures are directly in the path of ground fires:

• Wooden Poles: Char and burn, leading to catastrophic collapse.
• Cables & Insulation: Heat melts plastic insulation, causing short circuits and power failures.
• Transformers: Contain insulating oil; intense heat can cause explosions or failure.
• Substations: Vegetation encroachment creates a major fire hazard.

Repairing this damage is expensive and logistically challenging, often requiring the mobilization of crews and materials across difficult terrain, leading to extended outage periods for affected communities.

Analysis: The Multi-Faceted Approach of the Current Campaign

The ECG-NCCE campaign represents a shift from purely technical infrastructure hardening to a holistic “social-technical” risk management model. Its effectiveness lies in several integrated layers:

1. Education and Behavior Change (The NCCE’s Role)

The NCCE is pivotal in translating complex technical risks into relatable community messages. Their officers conduct town hall meetings, school outreach, and radio discussions to instill a understanding that:

• A bushfire is not just a “farmers’ problem” but a national security and economic issue.
• Damaging an ECG pole is a criminal offense under the Arson Act and the Energy Commission Act, carrying penalties.
• Reliable power is linked to healthcare, education, and local business survival.

2. Preventive Vegetation Management (The Fire Belt Strategy)

The hands-on clearance activity is a tangible, immediate defense. A fire belt is a strip of land, typically 2-5 meters wide, stripped of all dry vegetation around a pole or along a power line corridor. It works by:

• Removing Fuel: Denying the fire the continuous combustible material it needs to spread.
• Creating a Barrier: Acting as a break in the fuel load, which fire fighters or natural conditions can exploit to stop the blaze.
• Protecting the Asset: Directly shielding the pole’s base and lower cross-arms, which are most vulnerable to ground fire heat.

This method is low-cost, high-impact, and sustainable with regular community maintenance.

3. Mobilizing Local Governance Structures

The campaign strategically leverages existing local government and traditional leadership frameworks:

• District Assemblies: Provide official endorsement and can integrate fire prevention into local by-laws.
• Traditional Authorities (Chiefs, Elders): Hold immense moral authority and can enforce community norms against destructive burning.
• Assembly Members: Act as direct political conduits between the campaign and the electorate.
• District Unions (e.g., Farmer Groups): Help mobilize the actual labor for clearance and disseminate messages within specific occupational groups.

This creates a sense of local ownership, which is crucial for long-term sustainability beyond the campaign period.

Practical Advice: How Communities and Individuals Can Help

While ECG and the NCCE lead the institutional campaign, the campaign’s success is determined by individual and community action. Here is actionable advice for residents in fire-prone areas:

For Every Homeowner and Farmer:

1. Create a Personal Fire Belt: Clear a 3-meter radius of dry grass, leaves, and debris around your own property boundaries, especially if you have an ECG pole on your land. This protects your home and the infrastructure simultaneously.
2. Adopt Safe Burning Practices: Never burn on windy days. If you must burn agricultural waste, do it early in the morning or late in the evening when humidity is higher and winds are calm. Always have water sources and tools ready before lighting any fire.
3. Extinguish Fires Completely: Douse fires with water or soil, stir the ashes, and douse again. Ensure no smoldering embers remain, as they can reignite hours later.
4. Report Dangerous Activities: If you see someone setting an uncontrolled fire, especially near power lines, politely intervene if safe, or immediately report to the nearest chief, assembly member, or the Fire Service (dial 192).
5. Maintain Clearance: The initial clearance is not a one-time event. Commit to keeping the area around poles and your perimeter clear throughout the dry season.

For Community Leaders and Groups:

1. Organize Community Fire Watch: Volunteer patrols during peak risk periods (especially after community events like funerals or festivals where fires might be used).
2. Map Local Risks: Identify all electrical installations (poles, transformers) within your community and assign responsibility for their protection to specific households or groups.
3. Integrate into Local Plans: Advocate for your District Assembly to include bushfire prevention around critical infrastructure in its Medium-Term Development Plan.
4. Conduct Mock Drills: Practice what to do if a fire starts near infrastructure—who to call, what initial steps to take (without risking lives).
5. Promote Alternatives: Encourage composting of agricultural waste instead of burning, or the use of mulching machines.

FAQ: Common Questions About Bushfires and Power Infrastructure

Q1: Why does ECG focus on Volta and Oti specifically?

A: Historical data from the Ghana Fire Service and ECG’s own outage records consistently show that the Volta and Oti Regions experience a disproportionately high number of bushfire incidents that impact the power grid. This is due to a combination of vegetation type, traditional land management practices, and seasonal wind patterns. Targeting high-risk zones maximizes the impact of limited prevention resources.

Q2: Who is legally responsible if a bushfire I start damages an electricity pole?

A: Under Ghanaian law, specifically the Arson Act, 1962 (Act 80) and the Energy Commission Act, 1997 (Act 541), willfully or negligently causing a fire that damages property, including national infrastructure like power lines, is a criminal offense. You can face prosecution, fines, and imprisonment. Additionally, ECG can seek civil compensation for the cost of repairs and lost revenue.

Q3: How long does it take to repair a pole destroyed by fire?

A: Repair time varies based on location and damage extent. A single pole replacement might take a few days if materials and crews are available. However, a major fire that destroys a line section with multiple poles and transformers can take weeks or even months, especially if specialized equipment or poles need to be sourced. This causes immense disruption.

Q4: What is a “fire belt” and why is it 2-5 meters wide?

A: A fire belt (or firebreak) is a strip of land cleared of all combustible material (dry grass, shrubs, leaves). The 2-5 meter width is an engineering standard based on fire behavior studies. It is designed to be wider than the typical “jump” distance of embers carried by wind (firebrand spotting). This gap starves the fire of fuel, preventing it from crossing to the other side where the infrastructure stands. The width may be increased on particularly windy slopes.

Q5: Can I report a potential fire hazard near a power line?

A: Absolutely. You should report any observed hazardous conditions—such as piles of dry brush accumulating at the base of a pole, illegal farming directly under lines, or planned burns near infrastructure—to your local ECG district office (contact numbers are often on bills or the ECG website), your Assembly Member, or the District Chief Executive’s office. Early reporting prevents disasters.

Q6: Does ECG have the right to clear vegetation on private land?

A: ECG holds easement rights along its power line corridors. These legal rights typically include the authority to access the land and maintain the right-of-way by clearing vegetation that threatens the infrastructure. While they prefer community cooperation and joint clearance efforts (as seen in the campaign), they have the legal mandate to perform this essential maintenance work. Community participation, however, fosters better relations and shared responsibility.

Conclusion: A Shared Responsibility for National Resilience

The Electricity Company of Ghana’s intensified bushfire prevention campaign in the Volta and Oti Regions is a critical and timely intervention. It correctly identifies that protecting the nation’s power grid from seasonal fires is not solely an engineering challenge but fundamentally a community engagement and behavioral change challenge. By combining the technical solution of fire belts with the social power of civic education and local governance, ECG is building a more resilient system.

The campaign’s ultimate success will be measured not by the number of fire belts cleared in a single season, but by the sustained change in community attitudes toward land management. When every farmer sees the power pole as a shared asset to protect, when every traditional leader speaks out against careless burning, and when every citizen participates in clearance, the cycle of fire-induced power outages can be broken. This model, if successful in Volta and Oti, offers a blueprint for other high-risk regions. The stability of Ghana’s electricity supply—a cornerstone of development—depends on this collective vigilance. The message is clear: preventing a bushfire is infinitely easier, cheaper, and safer than fighting one or rebuilding after it.

Sources and Further Reading

The information in this article is based on official statements, public domain data on Ghana’s energy and environmental sectors, and established fire science principles.

1. Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) – Official Website & Press Releases: https://www.ecg.com.gh
2. National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) – Civic Education Programs: https://www.ncce.gov.gh
3. Ghana Fire Service – Annual Reports and Bushfire Statistics (Available through Ministry of Interior).
4. Energy Commission of Ghana – Regulations on Power Line Safety and Right-of-Way: https://www.energy