NAN-H-80
Fire
By Mercy Osajiugo
Minna, Feb. 14, 2018 (NAN) The Niger Fire Service says the state recorded 242 fire calls in 2017 out of which 231 where real cases while four were rescue calls, with seven being false.
The Director of the Fire Service, Muhammad Babakudu, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Minna.
Babakudu also said the state lost three people to fire in 2017 while four were injured.
He said the Service would soon begin its first quarter routine fire sensitisation and awareness campaign visits to MDAs to minimise incidents of fire in the state.
“This exercise we will embark on is quarterly; from January to May and August to December and tagged “Fire Prevention Enlightenment Campaign, ” he said.
Babakudu said the exercise would provide opportunity to provide fire prevention lectures and drills to personnel of the MDAs.
“You can see that it is sacrosanct to keep on carrying out this sensitisation campaign; some people have fire extinguishers but do not know how to operate or even use them,” he said.
He also said 95 per cent of fire cases in the state were due to carelessness, adding that fire carnage could be avoided if victims adhered to simple tips.
“We are not going to rest on our oars; we will continue to carry out this campaign until people become aware that a fire emergency is a call for all,” he said.(NAN)
MNO/CEO/OJO
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(Edited by Chidi Opara/Mufutau Ojo)