Market inferno: FEMA seeks review of Fire Service Act

Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has called for review of Fire Service Act of 1963 to meet up with contemporary realities.

Director-General of FEMA, Alhaji Abbas Idris, made the call in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.

Idriss said that the act had become obsolete, thus limiting the powers of emergency agencies in the discharge of their duties.

While stating that the law must be reviewed in the interest of public safety, he queried: “Is there any law that empowers firemen to vet a building from the beginning of construction to the end?

Idriss said that in the FCT, emergency agencies relied on the Urban and Regional Planning Act to carry out enforcement.

According to him, an average of five fire incidents are recorded daily in the FCT, noting that the frequency of fire incident is too high.

He noted that most of the fire incidents were avoidable, but could be traced to carelessness or willful acts.

The FEMA boss appealed to FCT residents to dial the toll-free number 112 in case of anything strange or unusual.