The Federal Fire Service said that it saved 166 lives, rescued 82 persons in distress due to fire and saved property valued at N15.1 trillion in the second quarter of 2021.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, at the commissioning of the state-of-the-art fire-fighting truck deployed by the Federal Government of Nigeria to compliment firefighting in Taraba State at the Government House Jalingo, the State Capital on Tuesday.
He added that 27 lives were lost and property estimated at N3.017 trillion was destroyed.
Aregbesola said, “It is noted that 2020 into 2021 has witnessed frightening fire incidents, ranging from markets to gas and pipelines fires around the country. Statistics at our disposal show that the FFS in the second quarter of 2021 received 638 fire calls from which regrettably, 27 lives were lost and property estimated at N3.017 trillion destroyed.
“The good news, however, is that the Service within the quarter under review also saved about 166 lives, rescued about 82 persons in distress due to fire and other related emergencies while saving property worth over N15.1 trillion.”
He added that the delivery of the fire truck to Taraba State is further testimony of the President’s resolve to reposition the FFS for better service delivery in line with its core mandate, which includes humanitarian and emergency services.
“I must say that since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, FFS has experienced a phenomenal transformation from a moribund department to a vibrant organisation equipped with modern and state-of-the-art firefighting equipment and today, we are here to deliver one of the firefighting trucks to Federal Fire Service, Taraba State Command, to be manned by well trained, dedicated and committed personnel,” the Minister noted.
He also revealed that the equipment being commissioned is part of the N10.4 billion infrastructure upgrade approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on March 3rd, 2021 comprising of 44 firefighting engines, 15 water tankers, 15 rapid intervention fire engines (not conventional ones) that can go into the nooks and crannies to respond to distress calls and 20 basic life support ambulances.
He urged state governments to establish a robust fire service to complement what the Federal Fire Service is doing in their respective states.
“We must therefore not restrict fire service requirements or needs to state capitals or urban centres alone. Provisions should be made for Local Governments and rural areas, which have been victims of fire incidents and other emergencies as well. Farms and valuable economic trees have also been destroyed by fires in rural areas.
“I will urge the State Command to reciprocate the Federal Government’s gesture to optimize and effectively use these assets to improve fire cover, enhance emergency response operations and complement State Fire Services operations while enhancing fire safety across the country,” the Minister added.
