Tag: Fire

While some accidents are avoidable and unnecessary, others are nature bound. Hence, the almost automatic measures put in place in saner climes to curb and mitigate the effects of these accidents if and when they happen.

Be it robbery attack, road accident, tanker explosion and other forms of fire accidents, the timely arrival of appropriate rescue agencies to the scene of the incident can go along way to determine the safety of the victims and their properties.

The number of lives and properties worth billions of naira lost to either carelessness on the part of the victim or slow, unprofessional and sometimes outright rejection of distress calls by firefighters and other rescue agencies in recent times in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized.

As young as the Year 2020 is, several cases of fire accidents have already been reported.

Fire, Fire everywhere!

Checks by TNG revealed that between Friday, January 24 and Saturday 25, 2020, twenty-one fire outbreaks were reported in Lagos alone. Osun State was also not left out of the inferno rage as thirty-five fire outbreaks were recorded within the space of one week all in the first and demanding month of the year. However, these are just cases strong enough to get media attention. Others in their intimidating numbers have also occurred with the victims left to bear the aftermaths alone.

In Lagos, since November 2019 fire disaster has occurred on almost a weekly basis, leaving tears and destructions in its wake. The acting Head of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mrs Margaret Abimbola Adeseye recently got many surprised when she released statistics of fire incidents in state this year alone.

A statement signed by the spokesperson of the state Fire Service, Dosunmu Jamiu, quoted the acting head of the service to have said that a total of 21 fire incidents were recorded across the state between Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25, 2019

According to the statement, “after attending to eight fire incidents last Friday, Saturday began with barrage of fire calls numbering 13 as at 2031hrs as Amu Wood Market is on damping down of fire rubbles.

Reeling out the figure of these unfortunate disasters, the statement revealed: “A building was on fire at 25, Inabiri Street in Lagos Island while at 1326hrs, another building was on fire at New Garage area of Ojota, Lagos which was attended to by the Alausa Fire Station”.

The statement further revealed that Lighter Terminal 1 at Coconut Bus Stop, Olodi Apapa, Lagos also went up in flames as at 1314hrs just an hour before the fire that raged Elepe dump site, Elepe bus stop along ljede in lkorodu and a bush fire at Magodo Phase 1, Lagos which was attended to by Alausa Fire Station.

“Just as the firemen put out fire in these places, another building was reported to be on fire at 1655hrs at Kulanla Road, Odomola Epe and was attended by Epe Fire Station.

“Pent House of a five-storey building at 35/37 Martins Street, Balogun, Lagos was gutted by fire and extinguished in record time while at 1725hrs another bush fire at MRS Filling Station, Alapere Expressway, Ketu, Lagos was reported and attended to by the Alausa Fire Station.

“As at 1805hrs, the control room got another fire call at Adekunle Banjo street, Shangisha in Magodo area of Lagos and was quickly attended to by the Alausa Fire Station.

“A bush fire along International Airport which made the fire calls 10 was reported at 2000hrs and was attended by the Isolo Fire Station.

“Three other fire incidents were recorded at a building at Road 56, Victoria Garden City, Lekki, Lagos; Oju Emure Street, Odogunyan, Ikorodu and beside Lord Chosen Church, Odofin Park Estate, Amuwo Odofin, all of which were attended to by the nearest fire stations at 2004hrs, 2019hrs and 2031hrs respectively,” the statement added.

Between Saturday, January 25 to and Friday, January 31, Lagos State recorded a few other fire incidents, including the Balogun Market inferno which razed five buildings while two other buildings collapsed from the effect of the fire. The market, one of the biggest and busiest in the state, had suffered similar fate on September 5, 2019.

Aside from these, Lagos State had equally experienced two major fire incidents occasioned by the activities oil thieves who tampered with oil pipelines in Abule-Egba and Idimu areas of the state.

As if that was not enough, the inferno penetrated the Southeast zone. In that zone, Anambra State recorded the highest fire disasters between the months of November and January, with Onitsha, a commercial nerve centre and its environs, being the worst hit in the state.

Just like Lagos, analysts say fire outbreaks in the state is almost becoming a daily occurrence as markets, residential buildings, fuel-laden tankers were razed.

Onitsha had witnessed a major fire incident on October 16, 2019 when a tanker laden with fuel fell at Upper Iweka and spilled its contents. The content flowed through drainages to Ochanja Market where seven persons were burnt to death, including a pregnant woman and her baby. Also destroyed by the fire were six plazas, 100 shops and residential houses valued at about N1 billion.

Two days after fuel tanker wreaked havoc in Upper Iweka/Ochanja Market Onitsha, another fuel tanker fell and razed several buildings and about 30 vehicles in Omagba phase II area of Onitsha. Reports claimed that the ill-fated tanker lost control along Enugu-Onitsha expressway by Chukwudi bus stop, Onitsha, where it fell, exploded and spilled its content with fire lashing through the drainages in the area to residential houses and the nearby mechanic workshops, burning vehicle and houses estimated to be over N800 million.

On December 23, 2019 goods worth millions of naira were gutted by fire at the yam, hotel, carpentry and foam sections of Bridgehead market, Onitsha.

The fire was said to have sparked off at about 8:30 a.m, and raged for about an hour before the traders themselves controlled it. Some of the goods destroyed by the inferno in about 40 shops were tubers of yam, wooden doors and chairs, assorted sizes of foam, saw machines and many crates of soft drinks.

On January 5, 2020 another fire outbreak burnt a school hostel at Patterson Memorial Grammar School, Awada, burning a student, Chigozie Dim Anyichie, an 11-year-old JSS 1 student, to death.

On January 11, 2020 a trader at old spare parts market (Mgbuka), Awada Obosi, reportedly slumped and was rushed to a hospital where he was confirmed dead as fire engulfed the market.

According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), a total of 672 traders were affected by the fire disaster. An official of NEMA in the Southeast Zonal office of the agency in Enugu, Mr Kingsley Okoro, disclosed this during a joint assessment visit to the scene of the fire disaster by the agency with the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

“After our assessment, we ascertained that a total of 672 traders including 647 males, and 25 females were directly affected by the fire outbreak of January 11 at Auto Spare Parts Market, Obosi.

“The magnitude of the damage recorded by these traders is indeed colossal, we sympathize with the traders and pray God to give them the heart to bear the losses, while waiting for government’s intervention”, he said.

In Delta State, no fewer than 32 fire outbreaks have been recorded in Asaba, the capital of Delta State since last December. Director of the state fire service, Mr Eugene Oziwele, who disclosed this to Sunday Sun on phone, however, said that he could not state the number of fire outbreaks across the state as he needed to be exact.

Notwithstanding, however, the most devastating of the recent incidents in the state capital was the midnight fire that gutted the popular timber market behind Chiedu Okoh Plaza, along the Onitsha-Asaba expressway. The fire which occurred on December 28, 2019, according to an eye-witness, started from a cold room behind the timber market and destroyed goods valued at over N60 million.

The incident reportedly caught most shop owners unawares as they had travelled for the Yuletide. An eyewitness, Mr Chukwuma Opiah, who narrated the incident, said that he was coming back home around 9:00p.m in the night when he saw the fire.

He attributed the fire incident to an electric spark which started from a cold room in the market inferno. But another account attributed the inferno to a spark from a nearby electric pole, which reportedly set fire on the sawdust at the market.

Blame games by victims, firefighters and government

Perhaps one of the strongest factors that have aided the frequent recurrence of fire incidents nationally is the customary blame game amongst the victims, firefighters and Government each time such incidents occur.

Many residents are quick to heap the blame on firefighters for their alleged late responses to outbreaks and lack or inadequate preparations to combat the fire.

The government on the other hand has always fired back that the failure by most Nigerians to adhere to simple security tips is the root cause of most of the fire outbreaks.

However, it is highly essential that government put in place appropriate enlightenment programmes to sensitize people on basic safety measures and what to do in case of a fire outbreak before the arrival of the firefighters.

Why fire accidents occur frequently these days

The Director of Osun State Fire Service, Michael Ogundipe, attributed the upsurge in fire incidents to the storage of combustible materials, high electricity voltage, bush burning, saw dust and saw miller burning.

He pointed out that two of the three elements that aid fire are normally present during harmattan period.

“The likely causes of the fire outbreak during this period are air, combustible materials, high voltage of electricity, bush burning and saw millers burning sawdust. When all these are not properly managed or looked after, it can lead to fire outbreak,” he said.

He also blamed the attendant loss of lives and property on ignorance and carelessness of the people, saying that the majority of the victims of the recent fire outbreaks lacked basic first aid equipment at home.

According to him, “the losses are due to the ignorance and carelessness of people. People ought to have some first aid equipment such as fire extinguisher, which would help to minimise or put out the fire before the arrival of the fire service. But as it is, I don’t think many households have such equipment which is cheap and affordable. Once they get it and know how to use it, it will help to reduce the intensity of the fire when there is an outbreak”.

Alhaji Dogara Dalhatu, Chief Fire Officer, Nasarawa State, also urged Nigerians against indiscriminate storage of combustible items especially during the harmattan season.

According to him, “people must refrain from the habit of storing petroleum products indiscriminately; they should desist from the habit of careless disposal of cigarette stubs, adulterated fuel and illegal electrical connections. The use of sub-standard cables must be stopped. They must take precautions against power surge”.

The need for collaboration

To successfully combat fire and save lives and properties, there is an urgent need for collaborative efforts. The citizens, firefighters and other rescue agencies and government must be ready to play their parts.

While the government is expected to fund the firefighters and other agencies to procure up to date state-of-the-earth facilities, the firefighters themselves need to be more professional and also respond timely to distress calls. They should have their equipment ready at all times since emergencies like fire incidents do not give prior warning. It is absurd to still hear cases of ‘no fuel’, ‘no water’ each time people call for help.

The rescuers also need to coordinate themselves in a way that they don’t constitute nuisance to the people they are trying to help.

The victims, no matter how enraged they are by the losses they’ve incurred to the fire accident should learn to control their emotions. Nobody prays for fire accidents and it’s not the fault of firefighters that fire accidents occured in their home. Rather than fight or shout the firefighters down for coming later, victims should make way for them to get to work immediately and save lives or fight the fire to save whatever is left of the properties and also avoid a spread to other houses in the neighbourhood.