The dry season is here and with it the frequent fire outbreaks that is peculiar to the season. This is apart from dry skin, chaffed feet, brittle hair, dust, catarrh and so on.
Markets, shopping malls and houses are being razed down by fire, however where there is no casualty, it is considered a blessing, such as when a relation’s house was burnt down in Kano few days ago. It was in the afternoon and no life was lost and nobody got injured.
In any case power surge is usually blamed for many fire outbreaks in this country which may not necessarily be true. In markets some leave electrical appliances on and go home, while in some local places where it is very cold they use coal to get warm and fall asleep.
Therefore due to the combustible nature of the season if the fire is ignited the wind blows it and carries it.
If it happens where there is no water as is typical in our communities it is usually too late to put the fire out.
This is what happens to the ordinary people that run out and have only the clothes on their back, they hardly get the ‘privilege’ of Fire Service where the joke is they hardly get water anyway.
And to be fair to them in some places they go to, people are crowed and impede their access or the people get angry at them for coming late and attack them! So many things are wrong.
Then when it happens at big places like the recent one on the 26th of this month at the NEXT CASH and CARRY shopping mall in Abuja, it is the usual blame game all together.
There was a fire truck stationed at all times, but at the crucial time the person in charge of it was not there.
Also I watched an official on TV saying there should have been an access directly into the mall by a fire fighting truck. He said it could be covered and opened in times of emergencies. Medicine after death, as they say.
Some say we have outdated laws on development control, where you cannot just go and seal up a premises for not adhering to fire safety protocols, which means that such incidents would keep happening unless the laws are changed.
But what about laws for our homes, well, though there is enlightenment at such times more needs to be done.
Some people are very careful and take precaution, but that does not mean that a slip cannot happen and cause an accident.
But some are in the habit of being indifferent and laugh it off if cautioned. They don’t seem horrified if they see their three-year -old child lights a match or plugs a pressing iron into a socket or uses a stick to play with hot coals.
While we are all human there are things that we accept here that are not acceptable in a society where accountability matters; where negligence is the norm.
When markets are built they are said to have access roads in case of fire, but that is only on paper. Go to the markets and find how chocked up the so-called streets are. The verandas are hired out; some would leave their shops and bring out their items outside clogging the passage that two people cannot walk at the same time in some places.
We have supervisors and market managements, but they turn their heads or even connive to do this. But when a fire breaks out there is no way a fire truck could gain access, where the damage would have been less if there were access to the fire.
And you never get to hear the prosecution of those that caused the impediment through omission or commission.
There was a fire at the Sokoto Fruits and Yam Market on Wednesday, called Kasuwar Daji. There was also a fire incident at the Balogun Market in Lagos about two weeks ago.
Subsequently in this season we hope we would not count more fires affecting lives and properties, while we do the needful, officials inclusive.
