Fire Kills 12 In Delta

No fewer than 12 persons lost their lives in various fire incidents in Delta in the last three months. Mr Emmanuel Ibordor, the Director of Fire Service in Delta, gave the figure in an interview with newsmen in Asaba, yesterday. Giving a break down of the figure, Ibordor said that eight persons died in December 2009, one died in January and three in February. He also said that five persons were rescued alive in the three months under consideration and that property worth N20.3 billion were saved during the period. The director said that property worth more than N8 million were destroyed and that a total of 263 fire calls were received by the service within the period under review. He said that in January and February 39 and 33 fire calls were received by the fire service respectively. Ibordor added that when compared with the December 2009 figure of 191 fire calls, there was drastic reduction in fire incidents across the state. He said that the reduction in fire incidents was due to the success of the awareness campaign during the fire safety week that took place in November 2009. The director said that the campaign also brought about a drastic reduction in indiscriminate bush burning. “This reduction has helped in saving both human lives and food crops as well as cash crops that are usually destroyed through bush burning, Ibordor said. He advised members of the public to continue to adhere to fire safety rules and regulations, while urging them to know the phone numbers of the nearest fire station.