FIRE OUTBREAK PREVENTION

1.0       INTRODUCTION

Fire outbreak is a perennial problem in Nigeria. Yearly, cases of fire outbreaks are reported in the country, this is indeed worrisome¹. Over the years, fire has claimed more than 250 lives making it the most hazardous form of natural event in our environment² bn. More than fifty houses as well as properties estimated at billions of naira were destroyed in a single incidence of  fire outbreak in Onoga Yenagoa, Bayelsa state on Sunday November 28; 2010¹ another incidence of fire outbreak razed a shopping complex in Minna, Niger state on Wednesday December 1,2010 and destroyed goods worth more than one hundred and fifty million naira¹  Other incidences of fire outbreak include: in Egbe, a suburb of Lagos, a dawn fire claimed two victims, David Obo and one Miss Afor when a  candle that was lit due to public outage caused a fire outbreak in their apartment and they were consumed by the flames. In Sokoto state , Alhaji Abubakar Buroda, his wife and two-year old child were burnt to death in a dawn fire which was caused by power surge from public mains. In Onne River state in 2007, more than one hundred houses were razed in a single fire incident. The fast morning blaze destroyed house and personal belongings and injured person who tried to enter burning buildings to recover certain items. In Achara Umuhu, Abakiliki local Government Area of Ebonyi state, a fire outbreak occurred at night and set ablaze a nursing mother with her three children while they were asleep³. In Enugu, six people were burnt to death, 20 houses destroyed and economic goods worth millions of naira were lost in the fire outbreak that occurred following a fuel tanker accident on Thursday morning July 28, 2011⁴. The above are only but a few of the cases of fire outbreak in Nigeria.  Obviously, the incidence of fire outbreak in our country is quite alarming. Indeed, fire outbreak has become a problem of public health importance and every hand must be on deck to prevent it because no one knows who the next victim may be.

The number of cases of fire outbreak in Nigeria changes with the seasonal variation.The rainy season which is brought about by the south East trade wind that blows from the Atlantic Ocean to the Western coast of Africa from April to October is associated with few cases of fire outbreak mainly due to the high humidity. On the other hand, the dry season especially the harmattan is associated with many cases of fire outbreaks owing to extreme dryness and wind. The harmattan haze with extreme dry dusty wind is brought about by the North-West trade wind that blows from the Sahara desert towards the western coast of Africa.

Thus, in Nigeria, between November and March, there are often many cases of fire outbreak. This is due to extreme dry wind which makes it easy for fire to spread at any slightest ignition.

          Recently, there was a major fire outbreak in Lagos which claimed lives and properties worth of millions of naira. It was a sorrowful Christmas for the residents of close 59, house 9, satellite Town, Oriade Local Government Area, when a fire outbreak consumed the building, killing Onyinye Akudigwe and her two babies while her neighbour Precious Idaike, lost all his property on the fire⁵

1.4       RATIONALE AND JUSTIFICATION FOR STUDY

The recent increase in the incidence of fire outbreak in Enugu metropolis, coupled with the insufficient number of research work on fire outbreak causes, prevention and control and also the psychological trauma experienced by families who lost their loved ones and valuable economic goods in a fire disaster led to this research work with the hope that the outcome of the study will be used by the Government in making polices towards fire outbreak prevention and safety.

1.2              OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

1.2.1 GENERAL  OBJECTIVE

To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of Enugu residents towards fire outbreak prevention and safety as a way of helping to reduce the incidents of fire outbreak in the city.

1.2.2                    SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. To ascertain the knowledge of Enugu residents about  fire outbreak causes ,  prevention and control.                                    

 2. To assess the knowledge of Enugu residents on the psycho-socio-

economic  implications of fire outbreak.

 3. To determine the prevalence of fire outbreak in Enugu metropolis.

4. To determine the attitude and practices of Enugu residents towards fire outbreak prevention and safety.

CHAPTER TWO

2.0.                   LITERATURE REVIEW

Fire outbreak is a problem of public health importance. Every year, human lives are being lost and tremendous economic goods worth of millions of naira are being wasted on incidents of fire outbreak.

Fire outbreak has constituted a barrier to the economic advancement of our country. It is very necessary to enlighten the general public about the various causes of fire outbreak as well as the basic strategies to be adopted to ensure fire outbreak prevention, control and safety.

2.1    HISTORY OF FIRE OUTBREAK

Fire is a rapid self-sustaining oxidative process accompanied by evolution of heat and light in varying intensities. It is one of the earliest human discoveries in the ancient time. Historically, fire was said to be produced when two stones were hit to cause a spark. This later developed to the use of iron metals and then to the present day fire. Fire was originally developed out of a necessity to provide the basic need of man which is food, i.e. the domestic use of fire for cooking. Today, the use of fire has cut across many aspects of human activities including its use in industries. The earliest form of fire outbreak is forest fire outbreak which occurs when hunters set the bush ablaze in search of game (wild animals). Fire, despite its great universal importance can be destructive or even constitute a threat to human life when mishandled or left uncontrolled, when this happens, it is called a fire outbreak. Fire outbreak can therefore be defined as a sudden and uncontrollable spread or explosion of fire leading to loss of life or property. It can occur on the ground, above the ground or below the ground⁶. Factors necessary for a fire outbreak to occur includes: Fuel, heat, oxidizer and decreased humidity.

2.2        FORMS OF FIRE OUTBREAK 

Fire outbreak can be classified based on the places of its occurrence as follows

Ø Forest fire outbreak.

Ø Industrial fire outbreak.

Ø Fire outbreak in markets.

Ø Residential fire outbreak.

2.3         CAUSES OF FIRE OUTBREAK

Although there are certain incidents of fire outbreak that are beyond our control but the majority of the cases of fire outbreak in our environment are due carelessness ignorance and non-challant attitude to fire safety. Some of the causes of fire outbreak in our houses include⁷:

1.      Smoking: smoking near inflammable substances is one of the most common causes of fire outbreaks at homes, offices and public places. Discarded cigarettes that are not properly extinguished can easily reignite and result in a disastrous fire accident.

2.      Kitchen cooking: falling asleep while cooking can cause a fire outbreak. Loose-fitting clothing worn while cooking can easily catch fire and result in fire outbreak.

3. Hazardous materials: improper handling or storage of hazardous materials such as flammable liquids and gases paints, adhesives and other chemicals can result in fire outbreak.

4. Candles: careless use of candles and other naked flames. Leaving a burning candle unattended or placing than near air vents, windows, drafts or within the children’s pet reach can lead to a fire outbreak.

5. Electrical fire: use of unsafe electrical conditions such as damaged electrical conductors, overloaded sockets and extension cords, faulty wirings, blown fuses low quality electrical equipments, malfunction of electrical devices, loose electrical connections and lack of clearance between electrical heating device and combustible materials can lead to fire outbreak.

6. Heating devices and fire places. Careless use of heating devices such as clothes iron, space heater, water heater, hair iron and others can result in a fire outbreak.

7. Rubbish: accumulation of rubbish in the attic basement or garage can increase the risk of fire outbreaks.

Others causes include⁸:

8. Fire work: irresponsible use of fire work can cause fire outbreaks.  The fireworks might hit inflammable  substances and cause an explosion that will initiate a fire disaster.

9. Kerosene lamp: pouring kerosene into the kerosene tank of a kerosene lamp while the kerosene lamp is lit. This  may cause an explosion that can ignite a fire

10. Oil tanker accident: falling of oil tanker near residential building can lead to a fire disaster.

2.4          FIRE OUTBREAK PREVENTION AND SAFETY

Fire outbreak prevention means the effort in eliminating the outbreak of fire by adopting all possible precautionary safety measures. Fire prevention is considered even more important than fire fighting as it is said, “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure”. The scope of fire prevention is not only limited to industries but is also important to all the establishments like shops, schools, hospitals, places of entertainment, theatres, hostels etc⁹.

The following steps are necessary precautions in case of fire outbreak;

1.   Use of safe electrical devices: switch off every electric device if not in use. Do not overload or use wires with sparks on them¹⁰.

2.   Safe cooking: try not leaving the kitchen while cooking. Cook on moderate flame while deep frying. Try putting it on a low flame while answering phone call. Shut the gas when not in use. Do not use extension cords for kitchen appliances as the circuit may break and cause fire outbreak¹⁰.

3.   Keep surrounding free from rubbish:  fire requires oxygen, fuel and heat to burn. The atmosphere contains oxygen, rubbishes like (abandoned pieces of furniture, used paper, dry grasses, etc) as a fuel. The only element remaining for fire to start off is it. Any naked flame thrown inside such rubbish will ignite the rubbish⁹.

4.   Handle Fire With Care: Respect fire by the way you respect electricity. Do not use it carelessly. Do not take naked flames near volatile fuels like petrol, cooking gas and the like. Do not throw away naked flames like cigarette flame without completely extinguishing them⁹.

5.   Beware Of Inflammable Substances:  Inflammable substances like kerosene, cooking gas, petrol, some insecticides, diesel, some perfumes, some industrial chemicals etc. should be handled with care. They can easily be ignited from any point that you smell their fumes. Do not use naked flames within such range⁹.

6.   Turn off all electrical appliances while traveling: This is necessary to prevent explosions during fire surges since you will not be around to handle fire emergencies⁹.

2.5 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS IN CASE OF FIRE EMERGENCY: No one wants to think of fire outbreak in his/her house. Nevertheless, fire outbreaks do occur. The following tips will help in preparing for fire outbreak¹¹.

1.   Prepare a fire risk audit:  This is quite simple. Inspect your house and write down spots you consider as odd spots. i.e. spots where you think fire outbreak can begin from. You may decide to give different rating to different points in your house. An example of this rating includes: no risk, low risk, medium risk, high risk and very high risk spot. Examples of high risk spots in your house include points near electrical sockets, cooking equipments, rubbish close to your house etc. Examples of very high risk points include space near inflammable substances, car parks ,etc

2.  Keep your credentials, money and other valuables in secured location: these valuables should be kept in secure places like banks and post offices. If your valuables must be kept in your house, keep them inside fire – proof box because this can be recovered after a fire outbreak.

3.  Buy a fire insurance policy: a fire insurance policy will save you from losing everything you have worked for when fire disaster occur 4. Fire fighting gadgets:   this can help you to prevent fire disaster. However, it can only help you if you will buy them and store them. Fire extinguishers can be used to fight fire at early stages. Smoke detectors will also detect any smoke and sound an alarm. Smoke detectors should be stored at risky points.

4.  Escape route must be kept clear and properly identified in the house.

5.  Save the phone number of fire emergency service.

6.  Keep your house tidy always. The inside and outside of a house must be kept tidy to reduce the speed at which fire outbreak catches on which will delay the fire and enable you save some of your properties.

7.  Be friendly with your neighbors: Good neighbours can help you prevent fire disaster or even help you during the fire outbreak. Neighbours can be of assistance if you are not around when the fire outbreak starts. They can help you in calling the fire service if a fire starts when you are away.

2.6    FIRE COMBATMENT AND CONTROL

The principle of fire fighting involves elimination of the elements necessary for combustion to take place.  The steps to be taken include^11:

1.   Starvation: remove fuel or material from one side before fire get there.  In case of bush fire, make a demarcation.

2.   Smothering:  remove oxygen, this is only applicable in a small confined place.  In an oil industry, dynamites are thrown in order to remove oxygen.  Smothering can be achieved by the use of fire blankets or sand to prevent oxygen from combining with fuel.

3.   Cooling: try to reduce the temperature of the mater in order not to catch fire.

2.7       WHAT TO DO WHEN THERE IS FIRE OUTBREAK

-Raise a fire alarm

-Invite the fire service

-Leave the building in an orderly manner

-Shut all doors/opening to prevent oxygen

-Ignore all valuables and personal possessions

-Do not panic as this can create mental confusion and loss of sense of reasoning.

-Do not run when leaving the building but walk out smartly.

-Do not use lift as you may get trapped in there.

-Follow the nearest emergency exit to you

-If available use appropriate fire extinguisher¹¹

The following are appropriate fire extinguishers for different types of fire¹².

1.   Carbon (iv) oxide fire extinguisher: is used for putting off electrical fires

2.   Dry power fire extinguisher: is used for putting off fire arising from overheated flammable gases such as methane, butane or propane.

3.   Foam fire extinguisher:  is used for putting off fire arising from overheated flammable liquids such as petrol, oil or paints.

                REVIEW OF RELATED ARTICLES

A descriptive study was carried out by A.A Dare et al (2009) to determine the various causes of accidents and rollover fire outbreaks in fuel trucks in Oyo state of Nigeria using primary data collected from field and secondary data obtained from the Nigerian police, Road safety commission and Fire service Agency.  The following findings were made:  from about 358 transport accidents recorded in Nigeria between 1999 and 2002, only 33 were due to cars while the rest involved trucks and heavy-duty vehicles.  The summary showed that about 32 percent of truck drivers are below 30 years and probably immature.  Also 62 percent of fuel truck tanks manufactured are of inferior quality and may thus have been aiding fire outbreaks where there is an accident. The study also showed that about 54 percent of tank leakages that may lead to fire outbreak are due to operator’s carelessness. The study established the need for more education among the drivers and adequate legislation for tank manufacturers¹³.

          Frank  Agyemang (2010) in his research work titled “fighting electrical fire outbreaks is a collective responsibility” stated that the fire outbreak statistics from the Ghana National fire service for the year 2009 revealed that electrical fires totaled 218 constituted 8.4% of 2,584 total fire outbreak. In his opinion, these 218 electrical fires could have been prevented if the right things were done since these sort of fires do not just happen instantly without prior warning signals. He recommended that everybody should work together to reduce the incidence of fire outbreak rather than relying on the government¹⁴.

  Another research work carried out in Tanzania by Yohannes Kachenje titled “Assessing urban fire risk in the central business district of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania”

 brought out the  the following findings: Empirically this research has shown that there is limited fire management capacity in public

buildings, as far as public awareness and availability of means and facilities are concerned. It has been observed that most of the buildings have a limited number of facilities and means against fire hazards, and some of the means and facilities are either not easily accessible or are not functioning at all. As such, there is a high ‘hidden’ disaster risk in most of the buildings. A significant number of building users in the city of Dares Salaam are not aware of the use of fire fighting facilities. Also some of the firefighting equipment in the buildings is not in good working condition. There is no maintenance program either. The situation in most of the buildings does not comply with a number of stipulations in the Fire and Rescue Act of 2007, despite the existence of the Fire and Rescue Department, which is entrusted with supervision

of adherence to fire protection regulations by all. It seems that stakeholders and key actors wait for disasters to occur and take action, rather than acting in a precautionary manner. Training institutions have also a major role to play in terms of knowledge dissemination against fire risks. It is hereby recommended that the Fire and Rescue Department speeds up awareness programs especially in public buildings on the use and functioning of fire fighting facilities and means of escape to enhance safety in the buildings. In addition, the building owners should establish service and maintenance programs for the fire means and facilities and make sure that there is

a regular inspection schedule. The Fire and Rescue Department, local authorities and estate. Assessing urban !re risk in the central business district of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania managers are very important actors for implementation and monitoring of such programs. Training for the users of the buildings should be regularly conducted and where the local circumstances present difficulty in offering training and drills to workers and other building users, the estate/building managers should put in place fire marshals to take responsibility for the users’ and the infrastructure’s safety. The Disaster Management Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Home Affairs,

local authorities as well as the Fire and Rescue Department should collaborate to ensure smooth and quick enforcement of the regulations related to management of fire outbreaks in buildings¹⁵.

Another sturdy carried out by Paul Israel on peoples awareness and effect of open burning of house hold waste in Kinondoni  Municipality Dar-es-salaam showed that people were aware of the health and environmental effect of open burning of house hold waste . However the existing infrastructure, low frequency of waste and refuse collection fee becomes the stumbling block hence need thorough consideration. He recommended the need to carry out comprehensive study that will involve air, water and soil sampling to look on the effect of the practice in the environment. Community based interventions should be used to incorporate and involve people in discouraging this practice¹⁶.

Finally, a work put forward by Engr Donatus Ogbonna Sam Onyia and Chris Aniche Okorafor on “ Service Standard In Public Service Delivery In Enugu State Fire Service” showed that a significant cause of fire outbreak was due to electrical faults originating from faulty re-starting of circuits after a public power outage, He recommended that all electrical appliances should be put off after use and the power holding company should distribute electricity at safe and optimal voltage that will not constitute harm to household¹⁷