Lagos loses N14.99bn properties to inferno in 2014

Properties worth over N14.99bn were lost to various fire incidents that occurred in Lagos State in 2014 while properties estimated at N89.94bn were on the other hand saved under the period under review.
Statistics released by the Lagos State Fire and Safety Services also shows that in the out-gone year, about 248 residents escaped death in 1,499 fire incidents recorded in the state between January and November.
The agency during period responded to 108 calls which had to do with rescuing of victims who got drowned in the well or swimming pool and those trapped in the nine collapsed buildings recorded in the state in the year 2014. About 150 lives were lost in the emergency calls, including that of victims of Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN.
According to the statistics, in March alone the fire service responded to 131 fire calls, 8 rescue calls and 33 false calls totaling 172 calls in the month. It regretted that Lagosians were still involved in making false calls despite government’s warning on the danger of false calls as the total false calls in the period under review is 276.

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The value of properties saved in March alone was put at N10.32bn followed by April which is N9.78bn saved from 163 fire calls.
In the meantime, Rasak Fadipe, the state director of fire service, has appealed to the residents to stop harassing fire service personnel and trained emergency responders during emergencies, urging them to always assist the responders to get access to the scene of incident.
Fadipe who also urged the residents to be safety conscious, warned more fire incidents could be recorded this dry season, noting, however, that these are avoidable if the residents pay special attention to inflammable items in their houses and offices, and take necessary precautions.
It would be recalled that Governor Babatunde Fashola SAN recently handed over the $16m firefighting equipment and trucks to the Lagos State Fire Service recently at their headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja. During the handover, Fashola had urged the residents to be safety conscious especially during this season.
According to Fashola, there are about 570 trained emergency first responders, spread across all the Local Government Areas across the state, saying they should be allowed to take charge of any emergency situation that may arise.
Fashola had said: “As we move into the dry season, the risk of fire incident is higher and I want to advise everyone, if you have not taken a fire policy, go and do so, because no matter how hard we try, accidents will happen and insurance can help to mitigate the devastation.
“I also want to appeal that as I hope we do not have any need for this vehicles, when the need for them arise, I want to appeal to us to give way and grant access to these our highly trained and well equipped firefighting personnel. If we block access to where the fire is, we get in the way of their jobs.”