THE SCOURGE OF FIRE OUTBREAKS

Regulators should do well to enforce the fire codes

After several hours of darkness, electricity was restored to the Kofar Sauri community in the metropolitan area of Katsina State in the early hours of 1st December 2025. But it came in high voltage, and the unusual power surge reportedly resulted in an inferno which claimed a family of five. Most of the household items were burnt. At about the same time, a fire outbreak destroyed parts of the popular Gombe timber market, known as Kasuwar Katako, along the Railway Station area of the state capital. The inferno occurred after traders had closed for the day, razed several shops and goods and disrupted the livelihoods of many hardworking residents who depend on the market for survival.

Fire outbreaks in Nigeria are a recurring menace driven by electricity sources, carelessness and systemic regulatory failures. In the heart of the dry season, they come in epidemic proportions. From the fire outbreak in Bariga Market where several shops went up in flames, to the popular Alaba market, to the Mandilas market, the Elegushi Model Market complex in Lekki, and the Great Nigeria Insurance building in Lagos where three dead bodies have been recovered, there is need for a better appreciation of the challenge posed by fire outbreaks. Barely three months ago, at least ten people lost their lives to the fire outbreak in the Afriland building, credited to an inverter malfunction. Indeed, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS) chart showed that it responded to 1,072 emergency incidents in the first half of 2025, with 922 of them fire calls.

In many countries, it is not just enough to design and construct buildings; it is more important to make allowances for a possible outbreak of fire by ensuring the availability of fire-fighting equipment in such facilities. While we are aware that such codes and regulations are available here in Nigeria, they are rarely enforced. We have had more than enough fire tragedies that ought to have warranted the entrenchment of various forms of mechanism by the operators of public and private places to reduce occurrences. Most irksome is that some of the incidents culminating in this colossal damage were caused by the careless attitudes of individuals who failed to learn any lesson from similar developments in the past. The late-night fire which recently gutted the female hostel annex of Gombe State University, was triggered by a cooking gas explosion after a student reportedly left food unattended on a lit gas cylinder. The blaze caused panic among residents of the hostel many of whom lost personal effects and valuables.

We call on the federal, state and local governments to come up with sound and effective mechanisms to protect important places, buildings, markets and institutions from fire incidents. We also challenge the government to as a matter of urgency, deliberately revamp and mobilise the fire service to perform optimally. Stringent measures should be put in place to punish any individual or group which carries out any activity resulting in inferno.

Meanwhile, early detection of fire is a crucial step in fire prevention, and this should be ensured through individual alertness, volunteer system, and the installation of automatic fire detection systems at various points in buildings. Our urban planners should also ensure that there is enough access points through which fire fighters and emergency personnel could gain entrance to put off a fire before it spreads. There have been several cases, especially in markets across the country where limited access for fire fighters made it difficult for them to attack the inferno which razed buildings.

To reduce the increasing regularity of fire outbreaks and the attendant dangers to lives and property, it is important to step up advocacy on the issue; conduct regular fire drills in public buildings, and enforce existing fire codes.