Eket – The Fire Service in Eket, Akwa Ibom, said on Sunday that it had prevented escalation of 30 fire outbreaks in the oil city between January and July.
Mr Ebengeobong Isong, Principal Fire Superintendent, Divisional Fire Station, Eket, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket.
Isong said the fire prevention occurred in residential houses and market places.
“From January to date we have prevented 30 fire incidents from escalating to other property, including buildings in the area.
“We can’t tell the cost of the buildings lost but we ensured that at least we saved other buildings around that would have been destroyed by the fire,’’ he said.
He attributed the fire outbreak to carelessness such as use of matches by children and people not switching off electrical appliances while not at home.
The principal superintendent said bush burning could also cause fire outbreaks.
He advised the residents to switch off their electrical appliances when leaving home and take other precautionary measures.
“People should not leave their appliances unattended to and children should not be allowed to play with matches,’’ he said.
He said lack of information from the public posed a challenge to the service, adding that fighting was more successful when information was given in good time.
(NAN)