As part of measures to boost quick response to fire outbreaks in the state, the Federal Fire Service is set to receive two fire trucks in Rivers State.
The trucks are likely to be received this month under the auspices of the Zonal Office headquartered in Akwa Ibom State.
The zone comprises Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross River States.
The move is aimed at complementing fire fighting capacity of the state fire service.
In the past two months, Port Harcourt and its environs have recorded four fire incidents with millions of properties lost to the inferno.
The Tide gathered that officials of the State Fire Service have over the years suffered humiliation and public condemnation as a result of failure to respond to emergency calls.
The latest was a fortnight ago during a fire outbreak at Bishop Okoye Street in Mile 3, Diobu, which gutted millions naira worth of goods.
Meanwhile, the Zonal Operations Officer of the Federal Fire Service, Reagan Abbas, told The Tide that the federal authorities were working towards improving their operations in Rivers State.
“Until few years ago when our zonal headquarters was moved to Akwa Ibom, we used to have fire trucks in Port Harcourt office, and we were complementing the State Fire Service,” he said.
He explained that once the office takes delivery of new fire trucks, which will soon be received, it would be fully prepared to combat fire outbreaks.
Abbas revealed that the functions of the Federal Fire Service go beyond fire fighting, stressing, “We are trained to fight emergencies, and fire is just part of our mandate”.
He recommended the need to merge state and federal fire services to strengthen operations and make emergency response more efficient.