By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Forty-two people have been burnt to death and properties worth N14.62 billion destroyed in series of fire incidents in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the Director, Lagos State Fire Services, Adeseye Margaret Abimbola in the mid-year activity report of the agency.
The report spanned between January and June, 2023.
According to her, 1,462 emergencies were reported from the month of January to June, 2023, which included 924 fire cases, 92 rescue cases, 41 salvage cases, three explosions, two building collapse and 400 false calls.
Adeseye disclosed that the agency rescued a total of 177 victims alive, while 42 others were recovered dead.
“The estimated properties saved is about N87.72 billion, leaving the properties loss to N14.62 billion,” she disclosed.
The Fire director said fire incidence increased indiscriminately from the same period compared to the previous year, saying that investigations revealed that carelessness and negligence were the major causes of the disaster.
She also noted that there was an increase in unfavourable calls that kept occurring due to the change of strategy in the attendance to distress calls without double-checking for false calls.
Other factors, he said, included climate change and the proliferation of domestic gas usage due to the spread of its use as an alternative fuel, which also contributed to the increase in fire outbreaks.
The Fire boss, therefore, urged the public to desist from habits that might put unnecessary pressure on the Fire Service operations in the state while assuring that the agency had what it takes to ensure the mitigation of fire outbreaks.
