REDUCING INCIDENTS OF FIRE OUTBREAK 

Regulators should enforce building codes

Two firefighters were hospitalised last week after collapsing while battling a fire that engulfed the top floor of a three-storey residential building in the Ketu area of Lagos State. According to the spokesperson for the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olawale Afolabi, preliminary investigations revealed that the fire was triggered by “an electrical surge from the prepaid meter located at the front section of the building’s balcony before extending to the topmost floor.” We commend the Lagos authorities for the prompt manner the fire fighters were rescued as well as for containing the inferno. But they should also be concerned that tragedies like this have become all too frequent in the state. Indeed, it is a national malaise.

Over the years, we have had more than enough fire tragedies that should have helped operators of public and private places to reduce occurrences. Perhaps Lagos is always in the news because the state has developed an institutional response to the challenge. For Instance, no fewer than 133 lives and N19.72 billion worth of property were lost to fire incidents in the state in 2025, according to statistics from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS). While disclosing that carelessness and negligence were major causes, the LSFRS Controller General, Margaret Adeseye, put the number of fire incidents at 1,685 with 473 victims rescued alive. This is dreary.

Most irksome is that some of the incidents culminating in these tragedies and colossal damage were caused by the careless attitudes of individuals who failed to learn any lesson from similar tragedies in the past. Indeed, several reports indicate that most of these disasters occur largely due to human errors and failure to abide by basic rules and regulations established by extant town planning and physical development laws. For instance, few public buildings in Nigeria have water sprinklers or fire extinguishers at strategic and accessible points for use in case of fire outbreak. Besides, many building entrances are not wide enough for fire engines to access in the event of fire incidence.   

The Federal Fire Service (FFS) has repeatedly revealed that the number of fire incidents caused by electrical sparks is becoming worrisome. Many of the recent fire outbreaks have been linked to factors such as fuel storage, power surge, illegal connection of electricity, carelessness due to lit matches or forgotten candle lights, stoves, cookers, and gas cylinders in the markets as well as ignorance of safety procedures. But authorities in the sector must also begin to ask whether serious consideration is ever given for the inevitability of fire outbreaks in many of the private and public buildings in Nigeria. In most countries, it is not just enough to design and construct a building, it is also important to make allowances for a possible outbreak of fire by ensuring the availability of fire-fighting equipment in such facilities. Making such allowances is indeed part of urban planning. 

 What all the recent developments point to is that there is a need for better appreciation of the challenge posed by fire outbreaks so that the authorities can begin to fashion how to deal with them. To reduce the increasing regularity of these outbreaks and the possible dangers to lives and property, it is important to step up advocacy on the issue; conduct regular fire drills in public buildings and scrupulously enforce fire codes. Until all the critical stakeholders take these issues seriously, fire incidents will continue to claim innocent lives and bring incalculable losses to the country.