All We Are Saying …Fire Service is Poor
By Tosin Omoniyi
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Residents of Lagos pass vote of no confidence on the service rendered by the fire service in Lagos State
"We begged them to put sentiment aside and come to our rescue but they did not show up," lamented Akande Atere, one of the landlords whose houses were razed by fire in Aguda in Surulere three weeks ago. He was referring to officials of the Lagos State Fire Service and their inability to respond promptly to distress calls from victims of fire disasters.
Akande said there was a sudden explosion from a socket at about 8.45 p.m as a result of the incessant power outage in their area. The inferno gutted several houses that day. The fire fighters did not respond at all to their distress calls even after reaching them three times. Some officials at one of the fire service stations picked the call but gave an excuse that the last time they came to a neighbouring street they were beaten up by hoodlums. "That was not true but even at that, those people are terrible human beings," he said.
Six weeks ealier, a similar situation had played out at Ojelade Street, off Ikorodu Road, Fadeyi, Lagos. In the early hours of May 7, a truck driver had lost control of his vehicle and rammed into a building in the neighbourhood. Several drums of ethanol he carried spilled into the street and caught fire. The inferno woke the residents from their sleep.
Olajide Sowetan, head of the Sowetan family on the street, said the family's 16-room house was razed. Nobody could salvage anything. Taibat Waheed, another resident recounted that she only escaped with her children. Ground Air Motors, a travel agency, lost three of its commercial vehicles and a two-storey building to the inferno. "It was as if hell was let loose on earth that day," Obiora Njaka, the company's operations manager said.
The residents complained that men of the fire service did not come to their rescue on time. They said that although they put a call to the fire service station at Ojuelegba, Surulere, the officers there said they did not have water. "Our pipe is not long enough and we are being owed salaries," one of them reportedly said. By the time men from Alausa, Ikeja, station got to the scene an hour after the inferno started, street urchins had put out the fire with water mixed with detergent and sand. The fire fighting men came even without water.
Another fire incident occurred two weeks ago at Oworonsoki end of the Third Mainland bridge, Lagos, on Tuesday, June 10. In this particular incident a multiple crash occurred. A Conoil tanker carrying 33,000 litres of fuel had collided with a taxi. The taxi driver ignorantly tried to kick start his car to escape from the fuel dripping from the tanker. Unfortunately, it exploded. Six cars were burnt in the inferno.
Residents around Oworonsoki said if the fire service men had responded promptly, they could have reduced the loss. "They came almost an hour late and did not appear fit and proper. They were sluggish about it and were afraid," said an on-looker at the scene.
But officials of the fire service station at Alausa, Ikeja, said they responded promptly to the Oworonsoki disaster. "Immediately the call came through, our men jumped to their feet, put on their safety overalls and drove to the scene," an officer said, adding: "these sort of complaints have become a familiar song among members of the public. They seem to have lost confidence in the fire service in the state." A female fire service official told Newswatch that her colleagues' attitude to work is not unconnected with their poor pay and equipment. The hazard allowance is nothing to write home about either. An officer gets N10 as hazard allowance monthly, that is, N120 per annum. She explained that there is no insurance cover. "If anything happens to us, we are on our own," she said, adding: "Many officers have died on duty without their families being compensated."
Another official of the fire service who also pleaded anonymity confirmed that most officers were always reluctant to go out on rescue missions because there is no compensation for them when things go wrong or good commendation from the public. But Aderemi Ajose, director of fire and safety services, Alausa Fire Station, denied the allegations levied against the agency by the public and some of its members. He said most of the time, members of the public do not call on time until the damage had been done. He described the negative public perception of fire fighters as wrong. "People should not lose confidence in our fire fighting service because our job is to save lives and properties of the citizens. Anytime, they discover fire incident, they should call us," he pleaded.
But the Lagos State government has taken steps to improve fire service in the state. It has acquired new 10,000-litre water tankers with special facilities. "Our services are now excellent, in fact we have received various letters of commendation including that of Exxonmobil and Globacom," he said.
On staff welfare, he explained that the men have now been insured by the state government while the hazard allowance is now N10,000 per annum, that is, N833 per month. The service has 72 fire fighting vehicles. By the end of this month, more modern fire fighting equipment would be supplied. He urged the public to call the fire service through the emergency line 767 immediately there is fire outbreak. To ensure effective coverage, he said the Lagos State government has approved the construction of additional seven fire stations in Lagos, "This is to ensure that Lagos State Fire Service is delivered to the grassroots, to the door step of every citizens in Lagos," he said.
He regretted that people mistake the federal fire service station especially the one at Ojuelegba, as that of Lagos State. Already, there is ongoing plan by the federal government to hand over their service stations in Lagos to the state government.
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