Of Major Infernos and response systems: Are the firefighting infrastructure adequate?  

By Matthew Eloyi

It may seem as though fire outbreaks in popular markets and supermarkets across Nigeria on annual basis have become rituals and sometimes the probes into the reasons for the tragedies are never revealed nor reported.

The 26^th of December 2021 was a black Boxing Day for the management, staff and customers of the popular multi-purpose supermarket, Next Cash and Carry, located along Ahmadu Bello Way, Kado-Kuchi area of Jahi-Kado expressway, Abuja as the shopping centre was gutted by fire which started in the early hours of the Boxing Day.

According to reports, the fire which started around 8:00 AM was caused by an electrical surge that started from the administrative section of the supermarket. It was also reported that the Fire Service of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Federal Fire Service, fire units of the Nigerian Navy and Guards Brigade, as well as fire trucks from Julius Berger Plc made efforts to extinguish the fire. The staff of the shopping mall, however, alleged that personnel of the Fire Service arrived at the scene late.

What makes it more worrisome is that the incident occurred just a few months after another multi-million-naira shopping centre, Ebeano Supermarket, located in Lokogoma, Abuja, was razed by fire. More losses have been noted from similar fire outbreaks in many other commercial premises and supermarkets. Reported cases in different parts of the country have continued to strain our memories.

Commendable as the efforts of the firefighters were, one may be tempted to ask if the firefighting infrastructure and systems were not as effective as they should be. The General Manager of Next Cash and Carry, Pape Neil, in a post on his official Facebook page had maintained that the store was built and operated according to international standards, adding that the roof was fireproof and that it had a competent Firefighting truck in Abuja which has assisted the fire service in fire incidents in Abuja in the past, as well as fire extinguishers and fire hose reels connected to the hydrant, and placed in strategic positions all within the store under the FCT Fire service supervision. He added that the FCT Fire service conducts quarterly fire outbreak training for all staff & certifies all its operations.

The big question is: if all of the facilities mentioned above were as effective as should be, why did such an inferno engulf the supermarket, destroying goods worth millions of naira without being averted? Well, the Management of Next Cash and Carry Supermarket has called for a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire outbreak at the store. In response, the Honourable Minister of the FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello noted that an investigation was already ongoing to determine the cause of the fire incident to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident in any other establishment within the FCT. Until then, the real cause of the fire outbreak remains unknown. But one certain thing is that our firefighting response systems, technologies and infrastructure need to be improved drastically.