With the growing incidences of fire outbreaks in Anambra State, the State Police Commissioner, John Abang has urged residents to strictly adhere to safety and preventive measures so as to avert the spate of such disasters in the state.
Between the 16th of October 2019 and now, the state has recorded about twenty-five major cases of fire incidents officially reported as follows, Six cases involving trucks, ten cases involving residential buildings, two cases involving markets and two involving schools.
Others include three cases involving government offices and one case each affecting a Church and hotel.
The implications of the above cases of fire incidents include loss of lives, injuries to persons and destruction of buildings and numerous properties worth billions of naira, thereby subjecting the victims to untold hardships.
CP Abang who expressed worry that the fire incident is becoming more of a daily occurrence said statistics by the Command reveals that while majority of the fires are as a result of human error such as bush burning, electric power surge, careless handling of gas cookers, over-speed, overloading of trucks and potholes, very few are natural such as harmattan season.
He cautioned the public against bush burning, reckless driving especially by trucks laden with inflammable substances, and overloading, which incessantly cause electric sparks when in contact with PHCN cables hovering across the highways.
Abang enjoined residents of Anambra State to always switch off all electronic appliances in their homes and various offices when not in use to avoid electric power surge.
“Most of these incidents are avoidable if our people can imbibe safety habits. We should learn to think of safety first. That way, we may not have to suffer the huge economic loss and attendant capital flight associated with these fires. On our part, we will maintain inter-agency collaboration in finding a solution to these unsavory incidents,” the Police Commissioner said.
