How several challenges affect states’ capacity to tackle fire disasters

From time to time, various fire incidents test the capacity of fire service agencies across states of the country. The capacity of these fire service agencies to combat fire disasters basically depends on the funding got from their respective state governments.

However, across various states, there are issues of shortage of personnel, inadequate fire fighting vehicles, no insurance for staff, lack of modern fire fighting equipment, poor maintenance of facilities, lack of personal protective equipment, lack of training and retraining of personnel.

Fire service personnel are also faced with attacks from people who decry that the fire service usually turns up late to scenes of fire disaster.

But, fire service personnel have, in defence, pointed to failure of people to quickly inform them of fire outbreaks, clogged roads, poor road network, usual traffic buildup as delaying their movement to fire incident scenes and careless attitude of people to safety.

Meanwhile, the readiness of states to respond to fire incidents differs from state to state.

Kebbi

In Kebbi State, only three of the nine fire fighting vehicles are functional, although the Director of Fire Service department in the state, Yahaya Zazzagawa, said a memo had been raised to fix the damaged vehicles.

He said the memo is that either all the nine vehicles are fixed or new ones are purchased.

Like in several other states, Zazzagawa said the state has issues of shortage of staff just as there is no insurance for fire services staff.

He, however, noted that the state had modern fire equipment to fight fire outbreak, including fireballs, to quickly extinguish inferno.

He decried the careless attitude of people to safety as reason for fire outbreaks.

Delta

There are 18 functional fire trucks that service the 12 fire stations in Delta State, while construction of new fire stations at Owa Oyibu and Koko are at an advanced state.

The state Director, Delta Fire Service, Mr Eugene Oziwele, who made this disclosure, avowed that the state government had consistently purchased equipment and chemicals to enhance its fire fighting operations.

He, however, said its effective operations were usually hampered by narrow and congested roads and failure of people to immediately report fire incidents to the fire service.

This he said led to situations where youths attack fire service men for being deemed to be late to respond to fire disasters.

Oziwele also fingered carelessness of people, noting that some incidents originate from bush burning.

Abuja

Abuja boasts of having 25 combustion combat vehicles comprising water tenders, fume tenders and emergency tenders spread across 15 fire stations.

Head of Operations, FCT Fire Service, Zachaeus Adebajo, said the fire service has technology and facilities to deal with fuel related fire incidents, rescue operations like building collapse, flood and car accidents.

Meanwhile, one of the officers of the FCT fire service said its hazard allowance is consolidated in their salary and that they are captured in the FCT Health Insurance Scheme.

Recently, Abuja recorded fire outbreaks at Kubwa village market, Nyanya market, Kugbo furniture market, Next Cash and Carry Shopping Mall, with a victim of the Nyanya fire outbreak, Shadrach Anaga stating that the fire service personnel failed to turn up on time.

Victims of the other fire incidents also wondered why it usually took time for the FCT fire service to respond when informed of a fire outbreak.

Lagos

Apart from the service station at Alausa, there are 15 other service stations spread across the state, while the construction of five additional fire stations is ongoing.

Fire fighters in Lagos State said the major challenge they face is lack of support from members of the public such that they constantly come under attacks from hoodlums that lead to serious injuries and even death.

Worried by the constant attacks on firemen, the state House of Assembly has proposed a two-year jail term for attackers of fire fighters in the Lagos State Fire Service Bill, which is yet to be passed to law.

Meanwhile, the Lagos fire service faces the challenge of inadequate equipment and inadequate staff.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, however, said new vehicles and modern equipment would soon be delivered.

Specifically, Omotoso said the state is expecting to deliver 52 vehicles with all adjoining facilities that can make the fire service combat all kinds of fire disaster.

He added that there was an ongoing recruitment exercise to address the issue of inadequate staffing.

Kano

Twenty five out of the 27 fire fighting vehicles in Kano are in good condition with the two for Kibiya and Jankara undergoing repairs.

The Kano fire service grapples with poor access roads, usual traffic hold-up and uncooperative attitude of members of the public to men of the state fire service.

Public Relation Officer of the Kano Fire Service, Saminu Abdullahi bemoaned that rather than promptly informing the fire service of fire disaster, people first exert efforts and time to quench the fire themselves.

Though he noted that the fire service had a good number of equipment, Abdullahi said the men of the agency need clothing to work in cold and extreme climate condition.

Zamfara

Zamfara Fire Service boasts of having 42 fire fighting vehicles, enough manpower and facilities spread across the 14 local government areas of the state.

Director of the Zamfara Fire Service, Abdullahi Dauran, said with existing facilities, the fire service was always combat-ready, as soon as they got report of fire incident.

He, however, warned against carelessness by residents, especially the attitude of not switching off electrical gadgets, keeping petroleum products inside homes and people not keeping their cooking spaces safe.

Plateau

In Plateau State, there are 10 functional fire stations aside from a number of fire fighting vehicles and equipment.

It was gathered that the state Fire Service recently took delivery of new trucks and other facilities that could facilitate its smooth operation.

However, there is no insurance policy for men of the state fire service.

Assessing the operation of the state fire service, Mark Ibrahim who operates a timber shed at Taranto market said the service needs to be well equipped.

He added that bad road networks within the city of Jos coupled with traffic gridlock often delay the movement of fire fighting vehicle to scenes of fire incidents.

Meanwhile, Director of Fire Service in the state, Mr Caleb Poyit said the service has enough manpower and is well equipped going by new vehicles purchased by the state government.

Poyit appealed to residents of the state to desist from stoning firemen when they are attending to emergencies.

Sokoto

The Sokoto Fire Service has 10 operational vehicles.

Though there are fire service offices in all the 23 local government areas in the state, fire service personnel urged the state government to take steps to link the local government to offices with the state fire service board for more effective operations.

Investigation revealed that there is no special insurance policy for fire service personnel.

Like in several other states, fire service personnel also face harassment from Area Boys who also take advantage of emergencies to loot properties.

Ogun

Eleven fire fighting vehicles are on ground in Ogun State with 12 fire stations across the state while four stations have been newly built.

The state also boasts of modern day fire fighting equipment, personal protective equipment, while all fire fighters have life insurance policy.

Director of the state fire service, Fatai Adefala, avowed that all is well with the agency except for the challenge of the poor attitude of members of the public to men of the service while on duty.

Oyo

Oyo State boasts of having 15 fire stations with 12 functional fire fighting vehicles, though fire service men have no insurance.

For the various fire incidents, the Oyo State Fire Service are usually faced with reports of late arrival to fire scenes with various stakeholders noting that the challenges faced by the state fire service include inadequate personnel and poor access to water.

A resident of the state, Mr Abdullahi Oyekan, questioned what happened to fire hydrants that used to be on the streets back in the days.

Several stakeholders noted that the poor accessibility to water meant that the fire service had to fill its truck at its station before travelling distances to scenes of fire incidents.

Addressing the poor response of the state fire service to fire incidents, Director, Operations, Oyo State Fire Services Agency, Mr Ismail Adeleke, said the people should judge by calculating from the time they informed the fire service of the incident to their arrival and not calculating with the time the fire began.

On allegations of late response, he decried that fire service men had, on several occasions, been assaulted, stoned and their facilities vandalised by enraged members of the public.

On inadequate personnel, Adeleke said it had got the assurance of the Governor Seyi Makinde-led government to commence recruitment for the fire service agency before end of the year, as well as assurance that an insurance policy for fire service men was being worked upon.

Osun

Osun State Fire Service has five functional fire tenders while work is said to be ongoing to repair defective ones and even procure new ones.

Apart from the state headquarters of the fire service in Osogbo, the state capital, 11 fire stations are located across the state.

Meanwhile, there is an approved insurance policy for fire officers although awaiting implementation.

The Osun fire service also faces attack from enraged members of the public over alleged delayed response to emergencies.

Ondo

The seven fire stations in the state are found to be non-functional with facilities daily getting outdated.

Investigations showed that all the fire service stations located across towns and cities are not well-equipped to be efficient.

A visit to the headquarters of the fire station in Akure, the state capital, showed activities at the lowest ebb, with few officials in the offices.

Attempts to speak with the Director of Fire Service of the state, Mr Adanlawo, failed as he could not be reached for comments.

However, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed disappointment at the attitude of every government in the state towards reviving the fire service stations.

He said all the fire stations had old and outdated equipment.

During emergencies, the official said the state had to rely on the federal fire service.

Ekiti

Nigerian Tribune observed that aside from Ado-Ekiti the state capital, the fire service stations are located in Ekiti-West, Ijero, Ikere , Ikole , Ekiti-East and Ido-Osi local government areas, with functional fire fighting trucks.

Recently, the government employed about 59 personnel.

In recent times, most fire emergencies have happened in the state capital and with the location of the fire station at the centre of the town, their response time has been efficient.

The director of fire service in the state, Samuel Olugbenga, said that the service is not facing manpower and equipment deficit, adding that the government has improved on the stations in these two aspects across the state.

He appealed to the to should show more understanding and cooperation with the service when responding to emergencies so as to reduce loss of lives and property.

He stated that there are three functional trucks at the Ado Ekiti station thereby making them effective and efficient in responding to calls from members of the public in times of fire outbreaks.

The director advised the public to desist from attacking firemen while performing their legitimate duties, stressing the need to always cooperate with them during fire emergencies to enable them do their work effectively.

Taraba

There are three fire service units in Jalingo, the state capital, although there is none of such units outside the state capital.

The state fire service works with the federal service to use the two modern combustion machines during emergencies.

Though the fire service boasts of technical kits worn during operation, there is no insurance policy for men of the Taraba fire service.

Mr Joseph Angyu, a victim of fire disaster in Jalingo, commended the state fire service men for their quick responses on fire emergencies, but urged government to equip fire service units in the state with modern machines to complement the existing functional ones.

Director of the Taraba fire service, Sale Mijinyawa, lamented the attitude of members of the public towards firemen in the state, which he said hampers their smooth operation.