Incidence of fire disasters in schools across the country is a source of worry for stakeholders, Folashade Adebayo writes
The Kano State Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mallam Mohammad Ambali, is a worried man. Barely six weeks after seven female pupils were killed in a night fire at the Government Girls Secondary School, Jogana, nine other boarding schools in the state have also been levelled by fire this January.
Leading a team to some of the schools on Thursday, Ambali said the state chapter of NUT had started an investigation into the incidents. Expressing surprise at the development, he called on the state government and schools to implement the union’s recommendations to end the scourge of fire disasters in schools in the state.
“We have never seen anything like this. But we have noticed fire disasters across some of our boarding schools in the state since the beginning of the year. Dormitories were burnt and pupils sustained various degrees of injuries. As a union, we have set up a committee to investigate the causes of these incidents and submit a report within two weeks.
“We have also made some recommendations to relevant authorities on how to curtail these incidents. The communities around our schools must be mobilised to respond to fire outbreaks. Teachers and principals must also be vigilant enough. No cooking materials such as stoves, heaters and others should be allowed. Government must provide fire extinguishers and train teachers on safety issues,” he told our correspondent on Thursday.
But, schools in Kano are not alone in witnessing this tragedy. From Osun, Lagos to Edo and many more states, cases of fire in schools have become rampant, a development that is currently sparking safety concerns among stakeholders. For instance, just last week, the administrative building of the junior section of the Ogbe Secondary School, Benin, Edo State, was destroyed by fire. The fire also reduced a block of classrooms and the administrative building of the senior section of the school to rubble.
On Wednesday, the Methodist Middle School, Ilesha, Osun State, was also reportedly gutted by fire. In 2012, 13 schoolchildren were severely burnt when their school bus caught fire in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Lagos State is also not spared the rage of fire. Speaking with our correspondent on Thursday, the Public Relations Officer of the state Fire Service, Mr. Shakiru Amodu, said two cases of fire disasters have been recorded in schools this year.
According to him, one incident occurred at the Anthony campus of the Lagos State University while the other happened within the premises of Anglican Primary School at Ogudu. He added that the state recorded no fewer than 20 cases of fire disasters in schools last year.
“We have had two cases so far this year in Lagos. The incident at the Anglican Primary School started from their refuse dump and it was escalated by the harmattan haze. Fortunately, no life was lost. The other one was at the Anthony campus of the Lagos Stare University. We had 20 of such cases last year but with no fatality recorded. I can recall one or two female students with injuries, but the cases cut across public and private schools,” he said.
The gale of fire incidents is however, not limited to Nigeria. According to the National Fire Protection Association, the United States fire departments responded to more than 5,000 fire disasters on educational properties each year. The association also reported that the incidents caused injuries on 85 people and $92m in direct property damage.
The Executive Director, Kamey Fire Safety Solution, Prince Adedayo Ajose, said fire disasters in school would not fizzle out anytime soon. Ajose, who is a retired Director of Fire Service, Lagos State, therefore, advised schools to prioritise safety issues and consult professionals when setting up fire units.
Advising school owners to take fire safety issues seriously, Ajose said most public organisations lacked fire safety equipment out of negligence.
“We did not have fire extinguishers in my office when I was in the service. The rules and procedures were not followed out of negligence. Many government offices and schools are not well-protected because nobody will challenge them. Some states are doing better than others in this regard but the most important thing is that government and private school owners must consult professionals who will do the risk assessment and recommend appropriate solutions,” he said.
Ajose also urged school owners to be more mindful of fire issues and consult only experts.
“Fire outbreaks in schools are something we should be worried about because the lives of pupils are at stake. I always say that 95 per cent of fire incidents are caused by carelessness and as long as there is human existence, we will continue to have them.
“What I have observed on my visits to schools is that many school owners trivialise fire safety. Many of them just go to the market to buy extinguishers without consulting experts in the field. A professional will not install fire extinguishers without first conducting a risk assessment. Fires are not alike and it is not a respecter of persons or place. There are four types of fire and you cannot use the same equipment for all. But many schools always patronise quacks,” he said.
Corroborating Ajose, an educationist, Mr. Nelson Ayodele, asked proprietors to regularly conduct fire safety drills and promptly attend to electrical faults to avoid fire outbreaks.
“Basically, I have noticed that the orientation and education that people with the school community have about fire safety is very minimal. There are schools where there are no fire extinguishers at all. When I visit schools on assessment, sometimes I notice electrical faults that nobody is attending to. I will also advise that members of staff have to watch out for various things that pupils bring to dormitories,” he said.
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