Akwa Ibom residents have expressed worry over the deplorable and non-functional state of the State Fire Service, saying their lives are under threat in the event of a fire outbreak.
Already, due to the harmattan season, the environment is prone to the spread of fire, and there are worries that the lives and property of many citizens cannot be saved with the existing condition of the service.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent in Eket, Comrade Sunday Bassey, who is a victim of a recent fire outbreak is among many citizens who feel unsafe and unprotected especially after narrowly escaping alive when fire gutted his house.
Bassey, whose house was almost completely burnt in the incident, said the Fire Service in Eket failed to show up to put out the fire even after a distress call was made.
Recounting how the fire incident happened, Bassey said but for the intervention of neighbours, the whole house would have probably been burnt down.
“The fire started from the warehouse which is near my own room. My landlord’s wife’s sister and his daughter put a smouldering firewood inside the warehouse which they used to cook.
“Luckily for us, our neighbours climbed up the roof to put out the fire. This was at about 11pm to 12 midnight on Monday.
“Unfortunately, the fire service did not come. Even with the calls my colleague made to them, the only one that responded was the Federal Fire Service in Abuja. They promised to reach out to the fire service in Eket but uptill when my neighbours put out the fire, I didn’t see any of them. They didn’t even call or ask.
“I am just imagining, had the fire affected some else, if not for our nice neighbours, the fire would have burnt down the whole house. That night I slept in my neighbour’s place while my children slept somewhere far from the house. Yesterday, I slept in my parlour,” he stated.
Speaking on the condition of the State Fire Service, the Commissioner for Works and Fire Service, Prof. Eno Ibanga, admitted that the agency has been comatose over the years and said that it would be totally overhauled to fight fire emergencies in the state.
Ibanga promised to revamp the service, saying the overhaul will involve recruitment of staff and procurement of modern state-of-the art firefighting equipment
“Recently, we discovered that almost all the personnel in the State Fire Service have retired leaving only a small size of workforce to handle fire emergencies in the state.
“Technically, the equipment in the fire service has become obsolete and needs replacement to fight fire outbreaks in the state. I am planning to bring resource persons for intensive training of fire men in the state. I would do it at the appropriate time,” he stated.
While residents await the ‘appropriate time’ for the revamping of the agency, a visit to State Fire Service Office along Dominic Utuk Avenue in Uyo, revealed that it had very few staff members, and only one functional fire truck to attend to fire emergencies.
One of the staff, who pleaded anonymity, said many staff of the Fire Service have retired while the equipment at their disposal is not enough to tackle fire outbreak.
“It is unfortunate that almost 80 per cent of our staff here has retired and government could not recruit new ones to fill existing vacancies here.
“Even with the only one fire truck here, we don’t have consumables to use. These consumables are chemicals, such as F-F-F, foam chemicals and other detergents needed in our operations.
“The state fire service needs total revamp in terms of manpower and equipment to meet fire emergencies,” he said.
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