The Acting Controller General of Federal Fire Service (FSS), Dr Karebo Pere Samson, has called on federal lawmakers in Nigeria to contribute to the fight against fire outbreaks in the country.
He said if each of them could build a fire station in their constituency, it would go a long way in helping firefighters in responding to fire disasters in the country.
Dr Karebo made this call while speaking at a media parley at the FFS headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
“Response time to fire scenes has been a challenge, due to bad roads, distance of fire stations from fire scenes and many other factors.
“One way of reducing response time is to increase the number of equipped fire stations.
“For this reason, we call on the NASS, UNDP, Multinationals, Foundations, and other relevant stakeholders to support the bid to increase the number of fire stations in the country.
“The NASS should make the provision of fire stations and equipment such as fire and rescue trucks, Hydraulic Platforms, Rapid Response Power Bikes are needed, including ambulances and rapid response trucks as part of their constituency projects.
“As a matter of fact, the Federal Fire Service is willing to freely deploy her men to any station built and equipped by any organisation or individuals.”
Dr Karebo who took over the leadership of the FSS on the 30th of December, 2022 after the retirement of Dr Liman Ibrahim, said he was planning a massive public enlightenment campaign on fire prevention, developing a robust capacity for public and private buildings, ensuring improvement on fire protection installations, and synergizing with the Nigeria Air Force on building their capacity for aerial firefighting.
“We are developing a strategic framework on fire drills/simulation in all Federal Government buildings across the states of the Federation. The essence of these fire drills is to ensure that occupants of these buildings are trained on what to do in a situation of fire,” he said.