Onitsha (Anambra) – The Anambra Fire Service has urged the state government to establish a fire trust fund to assist the state and federal government establishments in management of fire disasters.
Mrs Mary Attah, the Chief Fire Officer in-charge of Okpoko Fire Service Station in Ogbaru, near Onitsha, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Onitsha.
Attah, who said that public assistance to the service could come under the umbrella of the trust fund, noted that “government alone cannot tackle fire disasters effectively.”
According to her, the successes achieved in the state so far are made possible through the assistance of some public-spirited individuals and
Gov. Willie Obiano.
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She noted that “although Gov. Obiano provided us with some facilities to work with, we want the public, especially corporate organisations
and wealthy individuals to assist the state government under the trust fund.
“Fire disaster is an ill wind that blows no one good and you don’t know who will fall victim tomorrow,” she said.
The chief fire officer said part of the fund would be used to procure operational vehicles that would be used during rescue operations and construction of
boreholes, as well as used to buy other fire-fighting equipment.
“Also, we lack staff. We have only six operative staff instead of 24 to man each shift of eight persons per shift.
“Two persons cannot do anything during fire incident and I want to appeal to our amiable governor to recruit more people
in the service.”
Attah, however, blamed most recorded fire incidents on the carelessness of the people and illegal installation of electricity
gadgets in residencies and market places. (NAN)