Imo Fire Service Gives Score Card

Three persons died and property valued at about N4.8 billion were destroyed in various fire incidents in different parts of Imo last year, an official of Imo State Fire Service has said.             The Director of the Service, Mr Donatus Okeoma, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Owerri.

Okeoma said that the service carried out six rescue operations in 2010.

He said that 54 fire outbreaks were recorded in the state in 2010, out of which 50 were major occurrences and the rest minor.

The director explained that the incidents could be attributed mainly to “human faults and carelessness”, arson, electrical and mechanical defects.

He advised the people to observe safety measures at home and in their offices and to alert the Service early enough during fire outbreaks to avoid their escalating.

“Most times people often rally round to fight fire during an outbreak and only remember to call us when the case has got out of hand,” he said.

Okeoma appealed to the people not to  lose confidence in the organisation, saying it was committed to serving the public.

He said the organisation needed of fire fighting engines and expressed appreciation to the state government for approving funds for the purchase of a new fire fighting engine and the refurbishment of six old ones.

Okeoma said that the Service had two fire stations in each of the three senatorial zones in the state and a unit command at the Government House, with 104 personnel.

He said that the organisation was running three shifts of work daily and expressed the determination of the agency “to attend to distress calls anytime of the day.”