Just when we were inching towards the end of the year with fewer reports of fire outbreaks, the nation was hit with the destruction of one of its historic monuments, the Old Parliament House.
It was housing the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) and the Judgement Debt Commission.
Unfortunately, these institutions have lost many important documents and other belongings to a ferocious fire that gutted the structure at dawn last Thursday.
Earlier reports said those institutions could not recover vital documents because of the fire outbreak but there appears to be hope because the bodies have back-ups that can be retrieved for their activities.
The Daily Graphic is happy that this time around nobody has pronounced on the cause of the fire before thorough investigations are conducted.
We are sure that following the conclusions arrived at by the US investigators into the spate of fires, we have decided to be cautious about the causes of these fires.
However, the rate at which fires are gutting very important structures must stir us into action to find a lasting solution to the challenge.
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has crafted very comprehensive reports on the state of electrical wiring at our markets, industrial plants and office buildings.
The GNFS has made many recommendations to try to stem the rate of fires but nobody is paying heed to its recommendations.
Electrical wires at our markets are still exposed, while wirings in many public buildings, particularly the old ones, have not been replaced since they were done many years ago.
Also, there are no smoke or fire detectors in many public buildings in the country.
We know that by statutory requirements, all institutions must form fire volunteers and procure fire extinguishers for those institutions.
The Daily Graphic thinks that as a nation we should get more serious in the fight against fire outbreaks.
Nobody can tell when a fire will occur in homes, offices and markets, but we have the power to put in place certain precautionary measures.
Unfortunately, the regulatory bodies have acquiesced to the impunity in the system largely because we lack the guts to always put truth ahead of harmonious relationships.
The Daily Graphic believes that we do not have options to pursue in controlling the fires, except to make sure that the people respect fire safety standards.
The fires are destroying many landmarks that we ought to preserve for posterity. If there is a way to restore some of these facilities to their former glory, we should be able to do so or maintain them in the damaged form to tell a story.
Meanwhile, we call on the regulators to sit up to stop the destruction of very vital assets of state, and if negligence is established on the part of individuals or institutions, they should face the music.
