The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, has inaugurated 13 modern firefighting trucks and 11 water tankers for the Federal Fire Service (FFS) to combat fire outbreaks in the country.
Inaugurating the equipment in Abuja, Dambazau said that this was the first time the fire service had taken the delivery of a large number of vehicles, at once, since its inception, adding that one bus for conveying fire fighters and other operational equipment are included.
According to Dambazau: “The service has been battling with lack of adequate and modern equipment to perform its functions whenever the need arises.
“As at 2015, there was only one serviceable fire truck in the FCT Command when I went round the FCT units. That was when the idea of providing modern fire fighting vehicles and other equipment was conceived.
“With the express support of President Muhammadu Buhari, what looked like a dream then has now become a reality. We are grateful to the president for prioritising safety of lives and property especially during fire outbreaks.
He added that they would ensure adequate deployment of the equipment towards eliminating losses during fire outbreaks and related exigencies.
He said the present administration wanted to ensure that the Federal Fire Service (FFS) attained basic operational standard in terms of equipment and personnel quality, promising that more equipment would be provided to the service.
The Controller-General of Federal Fire Service, Joseph Anebi, said the provision of the equipment was a great morale booster to the service.
Anebi said:“Lack of adequate equipment had really affected our operations negatively, but since this administration came on board, we have been getting more support from the government.
“We thank the president and our supervising minister for their commitment to safety of lives and property in the country. The officers are being trained and re-trained while equipment and kits are being provided.
“All these are morale boosters to us and we are assuring the government that losses during fire outbreaks will continue to decline drastically,” he added.
