Lafia – Alhaji Dogara Dalhatu, Nasarawa State Chief Fire Service Officer, on Friday said that the service received 146 fire outbreak distress calls in 2015.
Dalhatu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia that the service recorded and responded to all the distress calls it received in the year.
“Of course, many more fire outbreaks occurred across the state within that period.
“But the number of fire outbreak distress calls we at the fire service officially received within that period is about 146, which to me is quite worrying,” he said.
Dalhatu said the fire outbreaks were largely caused by human factors including careless storage of fuel at home, failure to put off electrical appliances and bush burning.
He said that during the period, properties worth millions of naira were lost to fire in different parts of the state.
Dalhatu appealed to the state government and other relevant stakeholders to provide the fire service with equipment and more men to enable it fight fire outbreaks across the state.
He also advised residents of the state to avoid activities that would expose them to fire outbreak and take necessary precautions to prevent it in their homes.
In a separate interview, the Nasarawa State Commissioner for Community and Rural Development, Mr Yahaya Idris, urged residents in the state to desist from building petrol stations close to residential houses.
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“The public should always adhere to rules on building and location of filling stations. By the time people refuse to adhere to the laws, it leads to serious consequences,” he said.
Idris said it was the collective responsibility of the public to play their part in guiding against activities that could expose them to fire outbreaks. (NAN)