Fire claims 28 lives in Oyo State

Fire

Mr Oyekunle Kareem, the Oyo State Director of Fire Service, said 28 persons lost their lives in fire disasters that occurred across the state in 2016.

Kareem, who disclosed this in an interview on Saturday in Ibadan, however, said that 23 lives were rescued from the disasters during the period.

According to him, properties worth N41.9 billion were saved in 387 fire outbreaks across the state during the period under review.

“There was a considerable reduction in the number of fire disasters that occurred in 2016 when compared with the 2015 records, for instance, 645 cases of fire incidents and 38 deaths were recorded in 2015.

“The reduction could be attributed to the quick response of our personnel to emergency calls, enlightenment campaigns, radio and television jingles to educate the general public on fire management.

“Our focus in 2017 is to bring down fire incidents to zero level or minimise it to the barest minimum but we appeal to government not to relent in providing equipment that will make our operation effective,’’ he stated.

The director urged the general public to avoid actions that could cause fire outbreak like handling inflammable materials carelessly, illegal connection of electricity and storage of petrol in living apartments.

He also advised residents of the state to always call fire service men whenever there was fire outbreak instead of attempting to put out the fire by themselves.