NAN-DS-7
Safety
By Angela Atabo
Abuja, Nov. 9, 2016(NAN) The Federal Fire Service on Wednesday in Abuja urged Nigerians to imbibe safety habits, especially in the markets to avoid fire outbreaks, particularly during the harmattan season.
Mr Quintus Azogu, the Assistant Controller-General and Head, Policy Regulatory and Inspectorate Department of the organisation, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
According to Azogu, the caution is necessary due to increased fire outbreaks because of combustibles or free burning materials which normally go up in flames at the slightest opportunity during the Ember Months.
“So, if we have been recording one or two fire outbreaks in a day, during this period we will have between five and six as the average per day.
“This makes it imperative for people to be aware that this period is not just like any period where they may be careless with fire safety,” he said.
He said that the organisation would soon hold a National Fire Week to enlighten people on fire safety, especially in the markets where the incidence was prevalent.
“This is because markets, from the fire safety point of view, have to be designed with recourse to safety requirement which are seldom done,’’ he said.
Azogu said that there was need to involve fire service men in the construction of buildings, especially markets, to ensure that the necessary safety measures were taken.
This, he said, included spacing, use of appropriate materials and ensuring that all the fire safety features in the markets were not degraded in the course of using them.
He said that almost all preliminary investigations carried out by the service after all fire incidences pointed to the fact that the fire safety features were compromised or not even present.
“In the main source of it, if you degrade the fire safety features, you are bound to have a situation like we are having in the markets these days, especially in ember months,’’ the official said.
He advised people to be careful not to load combustibles within a small place and also avoid wrong electrical installations without recourse to safety and standards.(NAN)
ATAB/DUA/AMY
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Edited by Dada Ahmed and Abdullahi Yusuf