Curbing rising fire incidents

A midnight inferno on Monday, January 11, wreaked havoc on
the popular Balogun Market in Lagos, destroying goods worth
several millions of naira. The fire was said to have started
from a four-storey building in the market, from where it spread
to three other buildings, one of which houses a bank.
It was one of several such fire incidents reported in Lagos in
the last one week or so. In fact, Mr. Rasak Fadipe, head of the
Lagos Fire Service, said the agency has had to deal with 15
other fire incidents, eight of them since the Balogun incident.
The fire incidents are also not limited to Lagos, because many
such fires have been reported in other parts of the country.
One apparent reason for these rising cases of fire outbreaks is
the Harmattan, with its dry and severe winds that are
currently blowing across the country. This time especially calls
for extreme caution as the weather favours and fuels fire
outbreaks whenever they occur.
Again, optimisation of space in our markets, without any
consideration for eventualities such as fire outbreaks,
constitutes a serious problem. Shops are so closely packed
together that, in the event of a fire, the speed of spread to
adjoining structures is so high and usually devastating. Yet,
our town planners and other regulatory agencies stand by and
watch because they have probably been compromised, or they
lack the discipline to check and enforce the laws relating to
building construction.
Power surges have also been indicted in several fires, while
the inability of fire agencies to respond quickly to emergencies
increases the scope of the destruction. We are also not
unmindful of allegations of arson for sundry reasons.
Whatever the causes of these market fires, their frequency is
sufficient reason for concern. Relevant regulatory agencies
should remedy the tide. We call on the power companies, too,
to up their game. Power surges dispose buildings to fire
outbreaks and should be guarded against
The tragedies that these fires constitute are symptomatic of a
generally failed system. The absence of proper planning means
that fires are sure accidents just waiting to happen in our
markets.
Apart from the failures of town planning regulators, there is
also the issue of insurance. Checks have shown that there are
hardly insurance covers for such huge investments. The
reason may not be far from the fact that many Nigerians have
utter disregard for insurance. Nigerians should be encouraged
to embrace property insurance.
Fire-fighting agencies must be strengthened. How many do we
have and what is usually their response time? How good are
their conditions of service?
While we appear to be moving away from the era of total
neglect of this important agency, there is no doubt that a lot
still needs to be done to improve their capacity to deliver on
their very important mandate. Fires are a life-threatening
occurrence and those who fight them must be properly
equipped and remunerated.
It is also necessary to enlighten Nigerians on the human
factors that could lead to fire outbreaks. Many citizens,
because of their indiscipline and ignorance, engage in illegal
electrical connections, especially in our markets and other
business premises. This has been known to cause fires, but
the practice continues unabated.
There is the need to switch off electrical appliances after close
of business. This precautionary measure, simple as it is, is
often observed in the breach, resulting in avoidable fires. We
call for more enlightenment in this regard, and more
importantly, responsibility of market operators and their
regulators in ensuring compliance.
As we have observed, the fire incidents are occurring too
frequently and at a huge cost to lives and property. The
authorities must do everything to reduce them to the barest
minimum, while market operators should take responsibility for
their actions that lead to these fires.