1Lasisi, Adenike K. and 2*Lasisi, Adedoyin K.
1.
Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service,
Lekki Phase 2
2.
Lagos State Ministry of Environment
and Water Resources
*Correspondence: ladedoyin@gmail.com Tel.:
+234-802-847-6147
ABSTRACT
Fire
incident/accident is a serious issue in the city of Lagos and its sub-urban
areas, and their impacts have enormous implications on safety, lives, and the economy.
This study employed the
retrospective method of research to carry out analyses of a ten-year trend of
fire incidents that occurred in Lagos State. Data was obtained from records and
one-on-one interviews were carried out to confirm some of the information from fire
officers. According to the findings, the year 2014 has the highest number of
fire calls at 2,015 while the year 2012 has the lowest number of fire calls at 188
within the period under review.
Interestingly, the year 2014 had the highest number of false calls and rescue
calls at 372 and 1,537 respectively. Hence, fire
safety starts with the sensitization of citizens, planning, and
implementation of basic fire prevention strategies. In view of these, it is
suggested that the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services should carry out
continuous fire safety communication, and prevention, implementation of fire
safety management plans in communities, and also be involved in the building
approval process to enable them to advise appropriately on fire safety devices
specific to building type and use. Proper house-to-house inspections should be
carried out periodically by fire officers.
Keywords: Households, Livelihoods,
Fire, Accident, Fire Accident
INTRODUCTION
Fire
is the evident product of the combustion process which is a specific type of
chemical reaction (Brown, 2020). It transpires whenever the presence of oxygen
in the atmosphere collides with some form of energy or fuel (Biswas & Pal,
2020). The byproducts of the chemical reaction are completely contradictory to
the initiating substance (Pauli, 2021). For combustion to take place, the fuel
must be heated to its ignition temperature. As long as there is enough heat,
fuel, and oxygen, the reaction will continue (Guo et al., 2020). Also, fire is the rapid oxidation of a material
in the exothermic chemical process of combustion releasing heat, light, and
various reactive products (Pyne, 1982). Fire starts in three main ways which
are; accidents (misuse of appliances), deliberate ignition, and equipment
failure (electrical malfunction) which produces smoke and toxic gases which
could be extremely fatal to those exposed to it. Hence, the need for prevention
and protection from spreading fires by for instance delaying the ignition
period to allow people more time to escape and for the fire brigade to arrive
early at the incident. Fire can make homes unsafe, it can lead to the collapse
of houses, loss of property, and even death (Supermedia, 2011). Fire incidences have two main
causes: natural and human-caused (Vega, 2021). There are two major causes of
human-related incidences: accidental and intentional (Rodrigues & de la
Riva, 2020).
Whether in the natural and physical world or when
deliberately or incidentally lit, fire has both tremendous destructive and
enabling properties (Cabañas & Escabel, 2017). Humans revolutionized the
concept of ecosystem fire, modifying the environment to better suit their needs
and lifestyle (SEOSAW partnership, 2021). Thus, fire provides humans with
numerous benefits and essential convenience (Mazari et al., 2021). Fire yields
heat and light which enables humans to acquire sustainability on a daily basis
(Nashalian & Chen, 2020). On the contrary, when left unattended, fire can
and has resulted in massive destruction, damage, and loss of life (Zou et al.,
2020. This
paper presents a summary and the findings of fire events in Lagos over a span
of 10 years. It is aimed at helping to look at the main causes of the fire
incident and help to come up with recommendations on how to prevent further
loss of lives and properties.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Lagos sometimes referred to as Lagos State to
distinguish it from Lagos
Metropolitan Area, is a state located in the
southwestern geopolitical
zone of Nigeria.
The smallest in area of Nigeria’s 36 states, Lagos State is arguably the
most economically important state of the country, containing Lagos, the nation’s
largest urban area.
Lagos State is located in the southwestern part of the Nigerian Federation. On
the North and East, it is bounded by Ogun State. In the West,
it shares boundaries with the Republic of Benin behind
its southern borders lies the Atlantic Ocean. 22% of its
3,577 km2 are lagoons and creeks. Lagos State is the
smallest state in Nigeria yet, it has the highest urban population, which is
27.4 % of the national estimate [UN-Habitat]. According to the 2006 National
Census, Lagos State has a population of 9,013,534 in relation to the National
count of 140,003,542. However, based on the UN-Habitat and international
development agencies’ estimates, Lagos State is said to have about 24.6 million
inhabitants in 2015. Of this population, Metropolitan Lagos accounts for over
85% of an area that is 37% of the land area of the State, and the fact that
Lagos population is growing 10 times faster than that of New York and Los
Angeles, and more than the population of 32 African nations combined, the State
population is expected to hit the 35 million mark in 2020 (www.lagosstate.gov.ng).
The location of Lagos on the Nigerian map is shown in figure 1 below;
Figure
2: Location of Lagos on Nigerian map
METHOD AND MATERIALS
This study employed a retrospective method of research. A
retrospective study is a kind of research design where the researcher studies a
phenomenon by looking back at events that have already happened and then
analyzing data that are already collected. Specifically for this study, data
were obtained from Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services and the Lagos State
Bureau of Statistics. However, one-on-one interviews were carried out for
information purposes and not for data records or verification. The study
utilized simple statistical analysis methods such as frequency, mean, median,
etc. Frequency refers to the number of times the value occurs in the data. Time
series analysis is a specific way of analyzing a sequence of data points
collected over an interval of time.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This section presents the results and discussions of the
study after obtaining data from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and the
Lagos State Bureau of Statistics.
TABLE 1: TOTAL NUMBER
OF RECORDED FIRE INCIDENTS IN LAGOS WITHIN A TEN-YEAR SPAN
|
YEAR |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
FIRE CALLS |
188 |
417 |
2,015 |
1,117 |
988 |
1,273 |
959 |
700 |
550 |
900 |
1,130 |
|
RESCUE CALLS |
14 |
70 |
1,537 |
1,009 |
552 |
260 |
205 |
140 |
500 |
365 |
93 |
|
FALSE CALLS |
16 |
14 |
372 |
90 |
10 |
105 |
30 |
75 |
100 |
30 |
30 |
Figure 2: Occurrence of
fire incidents for Ten year period in Lagos State.
TABLE 2: ECONOMIC
INDICES OF FIRE INCIDENTS IN LAGOS STATE 2012 - 2022
|
Year |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
Properties Saved |
69.0 |
14.6 |
1.65 |
60.4 |
99.22 |
99.5 |
80 |
11.1 |
6.2 |
28 |
90 |
|
Properties Loss |
39.6 |
116.3 |
19.44 |
10.9 |
16.62 |
16.5 |
30 |
2.5 |
12 |
23 |
15 |
·
Estimates are in Billion (Naira)
Figure 3: Economic Indices of Fire incidents in Lagos State 2012 to 2022.
In Lagos State and Nigeria generally, the
provision of the Fire Services Laws and Regulations is that every home is
expected to have basic firefighting devices. However, studies and information
available from practitioners in the field of fire safety and management revealed
that the reverse is the case. In Nigeria where the energy supply for domestic
consumption is erratic, electrical fire is normally a source of fire
incidents. According to Nigeria Federal
Fire Services, electrical sparks were the leading cause of fire outbreaks in
Nigeria in the year 2021. It was also revealed that public assets worth N3 trillion were lost to about 2,835 fire incidents while
about 136 people died from major fire incidents in two states alone.
For Lagos the most populated State in
Nigeria, fire occurrence is also associated with death. An average of Ten (10)
deaths per year is recorded in the State in the last ten years. Table 1 shows the occurrence of fire incidents
in Lagos in a ten-year period. Based on the result of table 1 above, the year
2014 has the highest number of fire calls (2,015) while the year 2012 has the
lowest number of fire calls (188) within the period under review. Interestingly, the year 2014 had the
highest number of false calls and rescue calls at 372 and 1,537 respectively. One of the major consequences of fire is the
loss of lives and properties. Analysis of economic loss from fire incident from
2012 to 2022 shows a total of 301.86 billion Naira was lost to fire incidents
in the State, while the fire rescue team were able to save properties worth 559.67
billion Naira. The highest property loss was recorded in the year 2013 (116.3 billion
Naira) and the year 2019 had the smallest (2.5 billion Naira) property loss at 2.5
billion Naira
Data on the frequency and percentage
distribution of causes of a fire incident in the State could not be analyzed
because of the insufficient data sets of the causes. However, one-on-one
interview with fire safety professionals attributes the most common cause of the
fire to an electrical short circuit. Also, human error such as mishandling of
special and hazardous chemicals alongside carelessness are the remaining
leading causes of fire. Whilst
analyzing the data obtained from the record log and interviews carried out, it
was observed that the majority of fire incidences occur during the dry season.
Also, 53.3% occurred during evening hours while 13% occurred during the night
and 33.3 % incidences occurred during day hours.
The functionality and presence of in-house firefighting devices
always help in the reduction of fire spread and also reduce the intensity of
the fire. However, information revealed that 60% of fire incidents attended to
in Lagos does not have functional firefighting extinguishers or devices at the locations
whilst water and other firefighting means were used, most residents lack basic
firefighting techniques.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Fire incidence is a big problem for
every city government, most especially in developing countries where available
resources are inadequate for disaster management. The two most detrimental
effects of fire incidence are economic loss and loss of life. To mitigate these
losses, proper planning and implementation of control measures must be done. An
essential aspect of planning and control measures is the prediction of possible
fire incidences. This study is conducted to analyze the historical data of fire
incidences in Lagos State with the aim of helping to forecast future means of
preventing fire incidents and proffer solutions. Results of the analyses show
that fire incidence occurs mostly during the dry seasons and is often frequent
in the evening hours. Also, electrical sparks are the most common cause of fire
incidents in Lagos State. Furthermore, the absence of fire incident causes and mode
of pre-fire services action are some of the most data gaps noticed during the
study.
Therefore, it is recommended that government agencies responsible
for the management of fire incidences should:
i.
observe the patterns and frequency of fire
occurrences and make fire prevention countermeasures as soon as possible to
reduce economic loss and human casualties;
ii.
Lagos
State Fire Services should be involved in building approvals for numerous
reasons such as ensuring the proposed building has adequate countermeasure mechanisms
for fire prevention and fighting;
iii.
Although fire incidents occur mostly during dry
seasons, they do not drop significantly during the wet season. For this reason,
fire prevention programs should not only be intensified or campaigned during
the dry seasons. There should be an intensification of fire campaigns all year
round.
iv.
A higher incidence of fire occurs in mixed-used
areas with high population densities. These areas are mostly congested without
proper planning and adequate evacuation systems. Proper city planning action
should be fully adhered to.
v.
The number of electrical fire incidents in its
origin leads to the conclusion that many residents in Lagos do not observe
caution when handling electrical equipment.
vi.
The Fire department should set up a proper fire
investigation unit to enable the State to have real causes of fire incidents for
proper planning;
vii.
It is imperative that the Fire Services
personnel in the State should conduct more frequent fire inspections in
residential premises.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the substantial
contributions of the management and staff of Lagos State Fire Services, Lagos
State Emergency Management Agency, and Lagos State Bureau of Statistics.
Finally, the efforts of the numerous fire officers who provided data for this
study are gratefully acknowledged.
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