By Zubairu Idris
The Federal Fire Service (FFS), Katsina State Command, has inaugurated a sensitisation on fire safety and preventive measures to protect lives and property especially during this harmattan and beyond.
The theme of the sensitisation is: “Invest More in Fire Prevention”.
The State Commander, Mr. Aliyu Abdullahi, said that the theme has underscored the importance of collective responsibility and action in preventing fire outbreaks.
“Through this programme, we aimed to educate and sensitise our communities on the dangers of fires, the importance of fire safety and prevention.
“And the effective proactive steps we can take to prevent fire outbreaks.
“We will be engaging with various stakeholders in communities, markets, schools and other establishments to ensure that everyone is equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to prevent and respond to fire outbreaks,” he said.
He said that important tips to fire safety included: install smoke alarms, plan your escape from fire, keep eye on smokers, attend to cooking properly.
Others, he said, were get fire extinguisher and install properly, use electricity safely, matches and lighters are not toys, among others.
The Programme Manager, Enhancing Coordination Systems for Disaster Response in Nigeria (ECODIN), Mr. Lawal Musa, said that there are two types of disasters, namely: natural and human induced.
He said that the project is working towards reducing those forms of disasters in Nigeria, by building the capacity of relevant agencies to minimise the outbreaks.
In his remarks, the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba-Faskari, commended the foresight of the organisers of the sensitisation as harmattan season had already begun.
“The campaign is a call up to protect ourselves, because prevention is better than cure,” he said.
Garba-Faskari therefore urged the fire service to extend the campaign to all the nooks and crannies of the state for the benefit of people.
On his part, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Aliyu Abubakar-Musa, called for extending the campaign to barracks of security agencies and students of various tartiary institutions.
He assured full support to the service in its efforts to enlighten people on precautionary measures to fire outbreaks.