Harmattan: Dearth of firefighters, trucks hits North East amid rising outbreaks
Harmattan season has set in with dry wind in the northern part of Nigeria, causing fire incidents in Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Adamawa, Bauchi and Taraba states.
Data compiled from newspaper reports showed that from January to August 2023, no fewer than 29 market fires were recorded across the country. Of this figure, Borno recorded four incidents, Yobe three, Taraba two, Adamawa one and Gombe one, while goods and businesses worth billions of naira got destroyed.
At the same time, fatal residential fires have continued to claim the lives and property of residents.
Despite the increase in the fire incidents, residents alleged delays in response to emergency, while firefighters lament being understaffed and ramshackle equipment, which have very limited functions or no use.
Daily Trust on Sunday’s visits to some of the fire stations in the region uncovered some of the challenges faced by firefighters in discharging their duties, especially responding to emergency/distress calls.
In most of the stations visited, our correspondents witnessed broken down trucks and equipment, with an alarming shortage of firefighters and facilities in shambles.
Although captains in some of the fire service departments visited claimed an upscale in their emergency response in these states, their subordinates dispelled it as lip service.
Some of the personnel who confided in Daily Trust on Sunday revealed that in Adamawa, the minimum number of firefighters the directorate should have was 300, but they are grappling with just 60. Those in Gombe said they had 127 against 360, Borno 38 instead of over 400.
Also, in some of the stations, the staff complained that even the functioning fighter trucks didn’t have the full capability to meet distress calls.
Facilities in ruin, residents resort to self help in Gombe
In Gombe, an investigation by Daily Trust on Sunday revealed that in all the six fire service stations in the state, equipment and facilities are in ruin; therefore, making it almost impossible for firefighters to respond to emergencies.
Our correspondent reports that the firefighter trucks and offices at the stations visited in Gombe, Bajoga in Funakaye Local Government Area, Billiri, Kaltungo and Kumo, Kaltungo and Akko local government areas were in shambles.
It was discovered that apart from the headquarters of the Gombe State Fire Service Directorate, each of the five other stations has a single firefighting truck, albeit abysmally, while the offices are in shambles with few personnel on ground.
He observed that as at the time he visited, only two trucks served the whole Gombe metropolis and its environs, which is the state capital, the one at the headquarters and the substation at the Gombe main market.
Investigation also revealed that the firefighting vehicles and water tanker that serves the headquarters of the fire service and the outstation at the Gombe Main Market were grounded as a result of overwork for years without proper maintenance.
Lamenting the situation, residents in Gombe metropolis told our correspondent that they had resorted to self-help during emergencies. “The fire service lacks equipment and personnel to respond to emergencies, so people have now resorted to self-help,” they said.
However, the most choking challenge
was that the directorate lacked the adequate personnel to effectively man the six stations.
“We need at least 20 personnel per shift to operate three ideal shifts per station. That is at least 360 firefighters, excluding the management staff. But presently, the whole directorate has only 127 staff that serve the whole state.
“And about 10 more staff will be leaving the service on retirement in the next few months,” a staff member who wants to be anonymous lamented.
According to records, between January and September 2023, 11 people were killed and property worth N152million destroyed by various fire incidents. The directorate was able to save properties worth N1.1billion.
However, the director of the State Fire Service Directorate, Mr Gerson Maiborgo, said the state government recently purchased modern firefighting equipment, which improved their work.
He said the equipment included fire hose, helmet, rain boots and other essential facilities that enable their personnel to save properties worth N1bn in the last 9 months.
Mr Maiborgo commended Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for the prompt payment of their salaries and allowances, which he said motivated them to work diligently.
Over 60 trucks, 62 firefighters in Borno
In Borno, the director of the Borno Fire Service, Umaru Adamu, said the state had 62 firefighters and 28 trucks, including those in local government areas.
But a source in the fire directorate who didn’t want to be named told our correspondent that they were grossly understaffed.
“Ten of the 38 firefighters were drivers who came in when the International Hotel razed down, and 28 people were later deployed to the fire service,.
“If you can remember, when the governor visited the inferno in Gamboru market, he commended the efforts of the firefighters and ordered for the immediate employment of the 38 people; meaning that the 28 would be regularised while the 10 drivers would be employed,” he said.
Our correspondent gathered that Borno State has seven fire stations but only two are functional - the one inside the Government House and that of the state’s fire service headquarters.
“The remaining fire stations at 1,000 Housing Estate, 777 Housing Estate, Legacy Housing Estate (appliance bay), Tashan Kano, State Low-cost, state mechanical workshop, 505 Housing Estate and 303 Housing Estate are all not working,” a source from the fire service revealed.
He, however, said that if those fire stations were working perfectly, response time to emergency calls would improve due to the strategic proximity.
He noted that no state in Nigeria had firefighting equipment as Borno, “Because at one go, the state government bought 60 trucks; but they lack manpower.”
Adamawa
In an interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, the director of Fire Service in Adamawa State, Abdullahi Adamu, said that with a total of 60 members of staff, the service saved lives and property across the state, adding that they would need at least 300 staff to discharge its duties effectively.
According to him, with 47 members of staff and 13 daily rated workers, the firefighting and rescue department sometimes got overwhelmed during emergencies, calling on the government and well meaning Nigerians to support them.
“From January till date, we received 150 distress calls, while in the last one month we received 10 calls for fire incidents.
“We responded to distress calls a few months ago when canoes capsized in Yola and Benue valley, where about 50 people died.
“We have zonal offices in Numan, Mubi Gombi and Michika, with firefighting trucks in each station. We have the headquarters in Yola and an outpost at the Government House,” he added.
The director highlighted some of the challenges facing firefighting in the state to include shortage of manpower, lack of modern equipment, access to water and lack of support from private donors and communities.
“We need brand new engines that have provision for water, form channel and powder, as against the fairly used with provision for only water and form channels. We also need fire accessories like flammable hose and safety boots,” he said.
He said source of water was another problem hampering firefighting in the metropolis because what they have at the water board was not functioning, so they had to rely on a borehole. Yobe
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the Yobe State Fire Service Board also battles with shortage of firefighting trucks and personnel, among many other challenges.
The public relations officer of the service, Alhaji Baba Muhammad Bello, said most of the fighting trucks in the state were not working.
He said 9 of the fire trucks had been taken to Jos, Plateau State for repairs, but for more than two years now, only six were repaired and delivered by the contractor.
‘‘There are 9 firefighting trucks we took to Jos for repairs, but only six have been repaired and brought back to Damaturu by the contractor; the remaining three are still with him,” he said.
Bello also revealed that the board received 280 distress calls in the last 10 months, of which five were false alarms, while 275 were genuinely for emergency rescue.
‘‘We also had six building collapse incidents during the rainy season, where we rescued the victims. So far, 24 people have been rescued while six were confirmed dead by medical doctors,’’ he said.
While commenting on the level of preparedness of the service to tackle emergencies, Mr Bello said, ‘‘Fire Prevention and Protection Unit Personnel would soon begin sensitisation in some places like markets, schools and other important places.
‘‘They would tutor market operators, teachers and their leaders in the state on the basic precautionary measures to be put in place to avert incessant fire outbreaks,” he said.
He called on traders, households and the general public to put off all electrical appliances before locking up for the day.
Bauchi
In Bauchi, the fire service has recorded an increase in cases of fire outbreak in both rural and urban areas across the state. The state has only two functional firefighting trucks.
Sources said the service had only one firefighter truck and a tanker, which serve dual purpose. “The tanker has firefighting equipment, so whenever there’s call for emergency, the truck will rush to the scene while the tanker remains on standby as a backup. If the fire persists, we use the tanker,” he said.
In an interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, the Director of Fire Service in the state, Bala Abubakar Garba, an engineer, revealed that they received emergency calls almost on a daily basis.
Garba, however, said, “The state has provided two additional firefighting vehicles and fund for the repair of three more vehicles, which are right now in a mechanic workshop.
“The state government has also approved the establishment of 10 new fire service substations within the state. We also have three additional substations within Bauchi metropolis, while seven are across seven local government areas,” he said.
He said the service had concluded plans to embark on a weeklong campaign to enlighten the general public on activities that cause fire outbreak during the harmattan season and dangers associated with the incidents.
“We want to teach people to take precautionary measures to reduce fire incidents during the season. We are going to hold street and market rallies to educate the people so that incidents of fire would be reduced to the barest minimum,” he said.