‘Fire incidents reducing in FCT’

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Fire Service says fire incidents in the territory have reduced as the service is focused more on prevention than firefighting.

The Director, FCT Fire Service, Julius Opetunsin, who spoke to journalists on the sidelines of a retreat organised for management staff of the service in Karu, said the event was part of efforts to improve service delivery.

He said while fire outbreak was almost impossible to stop, he was determined to strategise on fire prevention and enforcement, instead of firefighting.

“Once people know what to do to prevent fire outbreak, there will be a reduction in the number of incidences and we want to ensure that each house has, at least, one fire extinguisher, among other fire gadgets.

“Between January and March 2020, FCT Fire Service responded to about 180 fire cases, but it has reduced drastically, so up to August ending, we responded to about 356 fire cases, without any casualty, largely due to our prompt response,” he said.

He, therefore, advised each home in the FCT to have a functional fire extinguisher, always put off electrical appliances and remove them from the socket when leaving their offices and homes. He also warned against prolonged use of air-conditioners.

The director, Legal Services, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Isa Bin Abdullahi, who also spoke, said the training was to improve the human and material capacity of staff of the service to ensure effective service delivery.

According to Abdullahi, the FCT Administration would enforce the use of fire extinguishers in every home from the inception of granting building plan approvals to ensure every home has the fire-fighting equipment to save lives and property.