Residents of Afikpo, Onueke, and Ezzamgbo in Ebonyi State have called on the state and local governments to ensure the procurement and installation of fire-fighting equipment in other strategic major cities in the state as part of measures to forestall and curtail incessant fire outbreaks in the state.
Some residents who spoke to LEADERSHIP Friday expressed regret that fire outbreaks outside the capital cities usually led to severe damages as „There are no other firefighting equipment in the State outside the fire service station in Abakaliki, the state capital.“
The appeal followed fire outbreaks that recently occurred at the Focal Hotel Afikpo in Afikpo local government area and another fire outbreak in Ezzamgbo in Ohaukwu local government area of the state, which destroyed properties worth millions of naira.
One of the residents, Mr Onyebuchi Onyia, maintained that the State government needs to decentralise the fire fighting service and make it viable in the three major cities of the state, adding that the distance between the cities has made it impossible for the firemen to respond quickly to emergencies.
„In the last couple of weeks now, there has been a series of fire outbreaks outside the capital city, and regrettably, the people usually resort to self-help as there are no fire fighting equipment in the state apart from the ones in Abakaliki, the state capital.
„Just recently, there was a serious inferno at the popular Focus Hotel Afikpo, which lasted for some hours without any firemen coming to the rescue. It took the combined efforts of the residents of Afikpo to put off the fire. Imagine an inferno on the roof of a two-storey building; how would the people put off the fire?
„The state government must urgently procure fire fighting equipment and distribute it to Afikpo, Onueke and Ezzamgbo to ensure quick responses to emergencies in those areas and other surrounding environments.
Another resident, Mr John Paul Ugwu, expressed dismay over the frequent fire disasters in the state capital and its environs and called on residents and shop owners to always be fire-conscious to protect lives and property.
