Director, FCT Fire Service, Julius Opetunsin made this kniwn while speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of a retreat organized for the Management staff of the Service in Karu, while stating that the event would enable them go higher and perform their duties as expected of them.
He also pointed that while fire outbreak was almost impossible to stop, he was determined to refocusing the efforts of Service on fire prevention and enforcement, instead of fire fighting, saying, “Once people know what to do to prevent fire outbreak, there will be reduction in the number of incidences.
“We want to ensure that each house has, at least, one fire extinguisher, among other fire gadgets.”
He further stated that; “Between January and March, 2020, FCT Fire Service responded to about 180 fire cause, but it has reduced drastically, so upto August ending, we responded to about 356 fire cause, without any casualty largely due to our prompt response.”
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Appreciating the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello for his continued support to the Service, Opetunsin disclosed that the Federal Executive Council recently approved the purchase of four water tankers and four water tenders, adding that they have already received part of it, while they were expecting the rest by the end of September.
Explaining on the use of fire extinguisher, Opetunsin said: “Fire extinguisher is not difficult to use. It is a different thing to have fire extinguisher and it is another thing to know how to ise it.
“Before using it, you have to remove the safety pins, because if it is not removed, you will not be able to press the lever, after which you will push either the powder or carbon dioxide out of the cylinder, while directing the nozzle to the seat of the fire, you don’t fight the fire at the surface.”
“Note that you only use fire extinguisher at the initial stage of fire outbreak when the fire is small; you don’t use it when the fire is getting out of control. At that point, you call the fire service because there is limit to what an individual can do. That’s is why it is necessary for you to have out control room numbers, which are 092906118 or 112, they will then contact the nearest station.”
He, however, advised each home in the FCT to have a functional fire extinguisher, always put off electrical appliances and remove them from the socket if leaving offices and homes, even as he warned against prolonged use of air-conditioners.
Also, the Director, Legal Services under the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Isa Bin Abdullahi, who also spoke, said that the training was meant to improve human and material capacity of staff of the Service with a view to ensuring effective service delivery.
According to Abdullahi, the FCT Administration could enforce a home a home a fire extinguisher from the inception of granting building plan approvals to ensure even home has the fire-fighting equipment to save lives and property.
On recovery of assets of the Service, Abdullahi revealed that a process was on for the recovery of all property of the Service across the FCT.
More so, the Managing Director, Synergy Vista Concept Ltd, Mr. Ejimonu Charles who anchored the training stated that his firm was commissioned to reposition the FCT Fire Service to global standards.
Ejimonu added that he would deliver papers discussing what fire service should be and what leadership was all about, including exraying the strenghts, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organisation, with a view to retooling it toward revenue generation and world class service delivery.
Source: Independent Nigeria
