By Joy Umo
The Cross River State Fire Service has expressed concern over its inability to effectively respond to fire incidents, citing a lack of functional equipment as a major challenge.
The Director of the agency, Emmanuel Ajom, disclosed this while speaking to journalists in Calabar following a series of fire outbreaks recorded across the metropolis in recent days.
Ajom lamented that the service could not contain some of the incidents before they caused significant damage, stressing that the agency is constrained by the absence of operational fire trucks, water hoses and other critical firefighting tools.
“One thing is that men of the Cross River State Fire Service are well trained and capable of putting out these fires, but we lack the necessary equipment to combat them,” he said.
“You cannot put out a raging flame with bare hands. We need functional fire trucks, water hoses and other modern firefighting equipment to do our job effectively.”
He appealed to the state government to prioritise the needs of the fire service, calling on Bassey Otu to intervene.
“I want to use this medium to appeal to our governor, who is doing well in many sectors, to also look in the direction of the fire service. Your Excellency, we need functional vehicles and equipment. We are ready and capable to do the job we were trained for,” Ajom added.
The fire service boss described the recurring loss of lives and property as deeply troubling.
“Losing lives and investments worth millions of naira to fire is heartbreaking. These are things people have worked so hard to build, and we must save them from such hazards,” he said.
He further urged the government to give more attention to emergency response and public safety.
“We appeal to government to give more attention to the protection of lives and property,” he stated.
However, findings indicate that the state fire service currently has three fire trucks, all of which are reportedly non functional, while existing hoses are said to be obsolete.
A staff member of the agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed the situation on poor handling of a refurbishment contract.
“The government awarded a contract to fix the trucks, but the job was poorly done and abandoned. Right now, we cannot respond effectively to emergencies because we are not equipped,” the source said.
“The fire service was given top priority under the administration of Donald Duke, with adequate equipment and regular capacity building programmes. Liyel Imoke sustained the momentum, but everything declined thereafter.”
“If we are properly equipped, we will perform and respond promptly whenever there is a fire outbreak,” the staff member added.