Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola says fire-fighting at the grassroots ought to complement the efforts of the Federal Fire Service for effectiveness.
Aregbesola made the observation during the commissioning of 20 basic life support ambulance buses, seven fire fighting trucks and pull-out ceremony of senior Federal Fire Service officers on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to him, the procurement of the ambulance buses is an innovation to fire fighting.
He also said that the fire-fighting department acquired such asset to guarantee the safety of lives and property.
“In an emergency where you can’t wait for a hospital ambulance, the fire service can evacuate victims to medical facilities in real time.
“This intervention will address this challenge and save lives; that is why we decided to provide this as a basic life support.
“The arrival of these ambulances will enhance service delivery of fire service during emergencies,” he said.
The minister urged zonal and state commands to reciprocate the federal government’s gesture by using the asset to improve fire-fighting.
“Local governments ought to have the capacity to fight fire and you don’t need to buy big trucks because there are small ones you can buy to fight forest fires at the grassroots.
“I urge local government areas to embrace acquisition of small fire-fighting trucks that will fight small scale fire.
“States should upgrade their fire stations because it is only when we have this supporting services that we can be sure fire will not be a threat to the safety of lives and property,” he said.
Aregbesola advised architects and building contractors to take seriously the need for fire prevention and control during building design.
“Many structures are not built with fire prevention measures in place which is wrong,” he said.
Dr Liman Ibrahim, Controller- General, Federal Fire Service, said that the new fire-fighting trucks and ambulances would be deployed to various commands to better equip them for better service delivery during emergencies.
The supplier of the fire-fighting trucks, Mr Usman Kansila, said that the trucks were in good standard.
“We supplied them with backup maintenance agreement, service after delivery and also training of firemen on the use of the trucks,” he said.
