Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, stated this at the commissioning of 20 newly procured Basic Life Support (BLS) modern ambulance buses, seven firefighting trucks and the pulling out of very senior officers of the Federal Fire Service.

The federal government has regretted that many buildings in the country, including public and high-rise structures, are not fire-preventable and do not have firefighting facilities.

Minister of interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, stated this in Abuja, at the commissioning of 20 newly procured Basic Life Support (BLS) modern ambulance buses, seven firefighting trucks and the pulling out of very senior officers of the Federal Fire Service.

Aregbesola said many homes and vehicles would have been saved from fire incidents if the small mobile fire extinguishers had been handy when there was fire outbreak, adding that some people lost their life investments in fire from which they never recovered while human lives lost to fire can never be brought back.

“It is best therefore to prevent fire. This begins with building design and equipment. A lot of buildings, including public ones and high-rise structures, are not fire-preventable and do not have firefighting facilities,” he said.

The minister said the equipment were part of the N10.4 billion infrastructure upgrade approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on March 3, comprising of 44 firefighting engines, 15 water tankers, 15 rapid intervention fire engines (not conventional ones) that can go into any nook and cranny to respond to distressed calls and 20 basic life support ambulances.

He stated that the delivery of these new Basic Life Support ambulance buses and fire trucks is indeed a further testimony of his resolve to reposition the FFS for better service delivery in line with its core mandate, which include humanitarian and emergency services.

According to the minister, “The arrival of these new ambulance buses and trucks and their deployment to the various zonal and state commands would surely enhance service delivery of the Federal Fire Service during emergencies.

“I will therefore urge the Zonal and State Commands where these vehicles would be deployed to reciprocate the Federal Government’s gesture, to optimize and effectively use these assets to improve fire cover, enhance emergency response operations, and complement State Fire Services operations while enhancing fire safety across the country.”

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