A harvest of fire
By Femi Agholor
FROM markets to government buildings, from private homes to company buildings fire has wreaked havoc in recent times. The rate at which fire incidents occur in the country is now alarming. This therefore, calls for urgent attention from all and sundry.
Whether one likes it or not disasters are bound to happen. Man at times makes mistakes; at other times he becomes careless, the concomitant effect of this is the occurrence of unpleasant incidents such as fire outbreak. As inevitable as the occurrence of disasters may be, it should however not be a thing of frequent occurrence as we are presently experiencing in the country.
Because of the unfortunate frequent fire outbreaks in the country, many have lost their means of livelihood; others have been rendered homeless; government agencies have lost property and vital documents while some companies have been forced to reduce production thereby sending many into the labour market. Also lives have been lost while some will live the rest of their lives with the scars (physical and emotional) caused by fire outbreak.
As worrisome as the frequent fire outbreak in the country is, the state of our fire service does not help matters in any way. At times the presence of our fire men at the scene of a fire outbreak does not make any difference " fire still wreaks havoc. The reasons for these are not far to see. Our firemen are ill-equipped to efficiently carry out their job. For instance, if a high-rise building was on fire, there would be little or nothing that our firefighters could do because they lack equipment that will enable them to get to the top of such building. This was the case at the scene of the inferno that recently ravaged the Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi, Lagos. It was pretty difficult for the firemen to gain access to top floors of the building.
Apart from the foregoing, most times our firemen are usually in short supply of water. Once they exhaust the water they brought from their station to a fire scene, it is usually difficult for them to get water around. Ours is a society where it is difficult to find functioning fire hydrants. Knowing fully well the state of our fire service and since fire outbreak is an avoidable disaster, the government should embark on aggressive publicity in order to sensitise the general public on the need to be safety conscious and to handle with care all that could lead to fire outbreak.
To this effect, the government through its appropriate agency should place adverts in the newspaper and jingles on radio and television. There is also need for government officials to be sent to rural areas for publicity purpose. Farmlands and vegetation could be set on fire while hunting for game. This could also happen when farmers burn bush in preparation for the planting season. Both urban and rural dwellers need to be sensitised and this the government should do with utmost urgency.
Furthermore the government should ensure that companies make adequate in-house provision to fight fire whenever it occurs and that they also provide enough room of escape for their workers. I am sure Lagosians will not forget in a hurry the unfortunate fire incident that happened in a factory in Ikorodu where many factory workers were burnt to death. Such a thing should no longer be allowed to happen. Companies on their part should give adequate training to their staff on what to do whenever there is fire.
It won't be too much nor would it be a herculean task for officials from the fire department to visit our markets once in a while to lecture our market men and women on the best way they could avoid fire outbreak. If this arrangement had been in place, market men and women in Bodija, Alesinloye (in Oyo State), Balogun (in Lagos) and Onitsha main market to mention a few could have been saved that harrowing experience of losing their means of livelihood to fire. It would also be a wise decision if government could build fire stations close to every major market across the country. Such fire stations should be equipped with modern fire-fighting equipment. This should be replicated in every fire station in the country.
To prevent arsonists from carrying out their dastardly enterprise, the government should make adequate security provisions across the country. Recently, the National Agency for Food and Drug Control (NAFDAC) laboratory in Kaduna was set ablaze. Of course this is not the first time that government property/establishment would be set ablaze by suspected arsonists; government's failure in the past to bring perpetrators of such heinous crimes to book has in no doubt emboldened arsonists to target government property.
For sure government alone cannot tackle the frightening incessant fire outbreak in the country. All hands should therefore be on deck in order not to allow this to become a phenomenon. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) should assist in sensitising the general public on the need to be safety conscious and to avoid fire outbreak. Religious bodies should also assist government in this respect. Though their primary aim is the spiritual well-being of their members, they should however not shy away from attending to that which will contribute to their members' physical well-being. In every family children have to be given sound safety lessons while adults on their part should be extremely careful in the way they handle inflammable materials. We cannot continue to lose our valuables and dear ones to fire. The frequent fire disaster in the country must stop.
Agholor is with the Department of Geography, University of Ibadan
