Following fire outbreaks in Lagos state, the state government has released reports indicating that no fewer than 40 victims were rescued alive, while 38 dead bodies were recovered from scenes of inferno while properties worth N10.09 billion were lost in the last six months.
The Lagos State Fire Service disclosed this while providing a half-year activity report for 2015. A breakdown of the loss showed that highest loss was recorded in the month of January with N2.58billion in 258 cases of fire accidents that included fire, rescue, collapsed building and false calls.
It was followed closely by the month of March with N1.92 billion, then the month of February with N1.6billion loss. The month of April, May and June had N1.47 billion, N1.31billion and N1.21 billion loss respectively.
The data made available also disclosed that properties worth over N60.04 billion were saved as a result of prompt intervention by the agency
It was also stated in the report that the agency got about 1009 calls, ranging from fire, rescue, collapsed building and false calls. The month of January also topped the list with 258 calls in total, while the month of June recorded the lowest with 121 calls.
Other information provided in the half-year report included 859 fire calls, 55 rescue calls, 5 collapsed building calls, and 90 false calls.
The Director of the agency, Mr. Rasak Fadipe urged the public not to consider any fire incident as small because every outbreak could be followed by destruction to properties and sometimes life threatening.
He said that State Government placed high premium on safety of lives and properties of the citizens, hence the nonchalant attitude of the public to safety of lives and properties is of great concern to the Fire Service.
“The public is hereby advised to be careful in handling electronic appliances, naked lights, gas cookers and any other flammable products. Motorists are strongly advised to at all time carry genuine portable fire extinguisher to protect their lives and properties in case of an outbreak of fire.”