Property Worth N69b Saved In Lagos

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The Lagos State Government says it has saved property and goods estimated at N69 billion from fire in the last one year.

Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Oyinlomo Danmole, disclosed this on Tuesday at a ministerial press conference in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, but said it was not possible to quantify the properties lost to fire in monetary terms.

According to him, the fire service received and responded to fire emergency and rescue calls in the state, adding that 2,056 calls were received out of which 1,826 were over fire, 88 for rescue intervention, 16 calls were flood-related, 27 calls on collapsed buildings while the remaining were false calls.

“All these calls were promptly responded to. The men of the fire service rescued about 112 people from all these emergencies while about N69 billion worth of goods and properties were saved,” he said.

On procurement of new fire fighting trucks and equipment, Danmole disclosed that the state government had signed an agreement with an American manufacturer, Messrs W.S. Darley of Itasca, Illinois, for a full package purchase of fire fighting trucks, maintenance of all equipment and training of the firemen in the state.

The commissioner disclosed that the agreement worth N2.2 billion ($14 million) is to be financed by First City Monument Bank, FCMB, in collaboration with the state government.

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He said the government’s contribution is $2.6 million, while the bank would provide the rest of the money which would be spread over a period of time for the government to repay.

Danmole said 32 modern fire trucks, comprising 15 Dragon Pumpers, 15 Snow Dragons and two Aerial Ladders with modern fittings, called Compressed Air Foam System, had been approved by the State Executive Council for purchase.

On training and capacity building, the commissioner added that part of the agreement with Messrs W.S. Darley was the signing of an agreement for onshore and offshore training for firemen.

“The training part of the deal is worth $1 million. The training experts had visited the fire stations for an on-the-spot assessment of the training needs of staff with a view to come back with a full training package for the relevant officers.

“The goal of the state is to establish a standard fire training academy. A fire service training school will soon be established and equipped with modern facilities to institutionalise training and manpower development for fire service personnel in the state,” he stated.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga

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