A
brief review of havoc caused by fire in some selected Nigerian cities in 2012
is necessary to drive home the importance of planning for fire disaster in this
country. In 2012 no fewer than 69 people were killed in fire incidents in Abuja
and property worth N765 million were also destroyed during the period reported
the Federal Fire Service Magazine.
According to the publication, in Rivers State no
fewer than 230 persons died while 73 others received various degrees of
injuries in 222 recorded fire incidents that occurred in Port Harcourt and
other parts of the State in 2012.
In
Osun State fire incidents claimed 31 lives and destroyed N227 million worth of
property in 2012. In Gombe fire killed 60 people and damaged N790 million worth
of property.
Recently,
Governor
Murktar Ramalan Yero confirmed to newsmen that Kaduna State records 40 fire
incidents per month. Alarming?
During the period, the intervention of the fire service saved 9,771 persons from
death and property valued at over N2 billion. The various fire stations
responded to 558 fire calls with the Federal Fire Service recording the highest
fatality rate of 288 deaths, followed by Kano State with 268 persons, while
Kebbi and Adamawa recorded no casualties though they experienced 144 and 69
fire incidents respectively.
Ogun
State, with 10 fire stations, lost property worth over N26,095,80 while the Federal
Fire Service which had 19 fire stations spread across nine state capitals,
recorded a loss of property worth N11,687,40.
Year
2011 was not better as no fewer than 990 lives were lost in 7,129 fire
incidents in the country and property worth over N53 billion were destroyed
during the same period.
Most of the fire incidents happened in private
homes, public buildings, warehouses, markets, sawmills and fuel tankers. The
causes of these fires range from candlelight, electrical faults, storage of
fuel wrongly to fireworks and other human carelessness. It has been observed in
several quarters that the scarcity of petroleum products experienced in the
country from time to time which made people to store fuel in their homes and
wrong places also contributes to rising fire incidents. Epileptic power supply
which also made the people to resort to candle to light their homes is another
contributory factor. Indiscriminate
refuse and bush burning is another major factor of fire during the harmattan
period. And apart from fires spreading quickly during the harmattan, the season
has peculiar health implications like cold and catarrh.
Fire
is a basic security problem. Fire as a weapon in the hands of a terrorist or
arsonist can bring a promising organization to its knees or deplete national
resources through calculated loss provocations. An innocent but careless
handler of fire can also cause havoc in the environment and bring untold
hardship upon himself and others.
Fire
outbreak is an emergency which requires a well coordinated and effective
response to reduce injuries, protect assets, and prepare the organization for a
smooth and rapid recovery. The impact of fire on families, organizations and
society are enormous. Many business organizations that have major fires never
recover. They are forced by fire to go out of business for good due to the loss
of vital business infrastructures and records. Fire results in, and is a major
cause of accidental or untimely death. Injuries and burns from fires can
disfigure their victims permanently for life. They become reclusive and do not
want to be seen in public. The healing process from serious burns can be
painful and traumatic. Property and indirect losses from fires are often so
large to be wished.
The
fire fighters who put their lives on the line to minimize and if possible
eliminate the impacts of fires around us face so many challenges. According to
Mrs. Ateme John-Bull of the Rivers State Fire Service some of the challenges
faced by the agency include obsolete equipments, poor training of fire fighting
officers, and negative attitude of residents to fire fighters as well as
indiscriminate refuse and bush burning.
Another
worrisome side of fire problem in Nigeria is the volume of false calls. Fire
authorities have come to term with the fact that some distress calls are not
genuine but mere hoax. For instance, the Rivers State Fire Service received 304
emergency calls in 2012 out of which 82 were false calls. In December 2012
alone, the Federal Fire Service, Lagos State Command recorded 27 incidents of
fire outbreaks and 16 false alarms which the agency Public Relations Officer,
Mr. Chike Njoku said were made with both good and bad intentions.
So
irritating is the incessant attacks on firemen and their trucks by the Nigerian
masses for allegedly arriving late at the scenes of most fire incidents.
It
is time we begin to appreciate the challenges facing our firemen in their
efforts to attend to fire emergencies in this country. Apart from lack of hydrant
points to refill their tanks along the traffic, improper direction by the
distress callers and absence of access to the scene of fire incident constitute
challenge to timely end effective firefighting. Timely and effective response
is major key to saving both lives and property from fire and other emergencies.
Nigerians
lack basic control and management of inflammable and combustible waste
materials. Even, in our industrial set up, this high level of ignorance is demonstrated
in the total or near absence of an established or written fire prevention plan.
Many organizations do not have a list of potential fire hazards; their proper
handling and storage procedures including potential ignition sources and
control procedures. They also lack the types of fire prevention equipment and
systems necessary to control hazardous fires. Poor housekeeping and careless
accumulation of flammable and combustibles waste materials and residues also
contributes to several corporate fire outbreaks.
It
is disheartening to note that companies operating in Nigeria are not under any
obligation to have an emergency response capability. In the United States, the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation sets the minimum
standard for response planning. It requires every staff to maintain emergency
action and fire prevention plans. The regulation also defined requirements for
all emergency response operations and emphasize that the plans must be in
writing. This is where our legislators
should focus their attention to put in place appropriate legislation to check
increasing loss arising from fire incidents and other emergencies in the
country.
As
we march into the harmattan season proper, Nigerians are advised to take
precautionary measures against the effects of the harmattan in order to avoid
fire occurrences. There is urgent need to improve on our housekeeping culture, check
indiscriminate refuse and bush burning, avoid wrong and improper storage of
petroleum products, use of candle and firewood to light the house at night and
the use of proper electrical appliances to avoid sparks and electrical fires as
well as proper storage and handling of inflammable substances.
Similarly,
there is urgent need for increased awareness campaign. The relevant authorities
are not doing enough to enlighten the people on fire prevention. The various
fire agencies and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) should as a
matter of priority carryout enlightenment campaigns among the populace and in
schools on fire prevention and management.
Apart
from the use of the mass media, community leaders, women and youth organizations
should be involved to educate the people on fire prevention and management.
We
know that times are hard, but, the use of candle and firewood to light the
house at night should be discouraged. The tendency to forget such light and go
to sleep is there and the result is usually disastrous. Those living in thatch
houses in the rural areas and those living in plank houses in the city ghettos
need extra caution about the use of firewood or other smoldering objects and
heating materials. Such fires should be put out immediately after use.
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