Adopting prompt report of fire incidents

This is to draw the attention to the challenges of fire outbreaks, the need to adhere strictly to safety measures and prompt report of fire outbreaks.

While bemoaning the level of ignorance displayed by many FCT residents in tackling fire incidents, we need to be reminded that we are still in harmattan season, a time when fire outbreaks are happening.

If you care less about safety, then you are ready to bear the cost. And that is why when it happens, a fire incident becomes so devastating.

We just want people to be of good behaviour, especially now when they are burning their farms in preparation for the rainy season, we should also avoid being careless at home. So, we would take the dry season campaign seriously.

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We should also have the right response to fire incidents around us. There is need to understand this, the time of the report of the incident is critical, because sometimes, the Fire Service gets information late and when you get the information late, the public will start blaming the service for coming late.

In furtherance to the resolve to reduce fire outbreaks and other disasters to the barest minimum in the FCT, we reiterate our commitment to supporting fire safety initiatives in schools, marketplaces and public and private buildings in order to reduce the likelihood of a fire disaster in the FCT.

Also, all levels of government, private organisations, traditional and religious institutions and individuals respectively have roles to play in ensuring that fire outbreak and the mitigation of its effect in the event of its occurrence are reduced to the barest minimum.

Engr. Sani Saidu is the Director, FCT Fire Service