Enugu Fire Service Battled 676 Fire Incidents Last Year

The Enugu State Fire Service says it attended to 676 fire and rescue calls between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020.

The state’s Chief Fire Officer, Chief Okwudili Ohaa, explained in Enugu on Friday that the calls were attended to by nine fire and rescue stations in the state.

Ohaa said that calls in respect of fires which occurred in buildings were the highest, with 407 from residents in major towns in the state.

According to him, the service received 126 calls in respect of bush fires which occurred in the suburbs and rural areas.

“The service also received 65 fire and rescue calls involving vehicles, 19 dumpster fire incidents and 24 other types of uncommon fire incidents.

The fire chief also said that the service received four false calls.

He, however, did not give the monetary value of the property destroyed in the various fire incidents, adding “We have yet to round-up the estimate.’’

Ohaa thanked Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for his tremendous support to the state fire service in 2020, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic which the state had to contend with.

“Enugu State Fire Service has received tremendous moral and financial backing from Gov. Ugwuanyi-led administration that made the service to achieve this feat in 2020.

“We applaud our sister security and first responder agencies such as the Federal Fire Service, the Police, NSCDC, FRSC and road marshals of the state’s Ministry of Transport, for giving us their support.

“They provided other auxiliary services such as back-up, security and human traffic control, road traffic diversions and smooth flows while we carry out our fire and rescue operations.