How complacency, poor infrastructure are impeding fire fighting

Dar es Salaam. Recently there have been several fire incidents in various areas of Dar es Salaam city, mostly caused by ‘electric faults’ according to many residents.

Traffic jams and bad infrastructure which are a common feature in most Tanzanian cities are not helping the fight to put out these fires.

In the latest incident, ill-equipped firemen, as usual, could only watch as a hungry fire destroyed property in one of Dar’s tallest buildings and in another incident they arrived a little too late.

Besides blaming traffic jams, sometimes firemen and rescuers face unplanned settlements in most of the streets, which make it hard for them to access the affected areas with their working equipment.

In one incident in 2011 at Manzese Kwa Mfuga Mbwa in the city, a two-storey building was razed down during evening hours after the rescuers failed to make their way to the building.

However, in an incident involving the Millennium Business Park-Ubungo, experts blamed the owners of the building for failing to adhere to the set safety guidelines.

For the part of the firefighting brigade, they always blame residents for not controlling the fires and at the same time point fingers at contractors for not including safety measures during the construction of various buildings in the city.

The Fire and Rescue Act 2007 requires owners and managers of high-rise buildings to have a fire protection manager. Others concerned are large schools, factories, department stores or places where many people enter, work or live or deal with chemical or petrochemical activities.

The Act charges these managers with functions that range from preparing a fire and rescue action plan to performing any other functions necessary for fire and other hazard prevention management.

To optimally prevent and minimise injury to people, damage to property and even deaths arising from fire, the Act also compels owners and managers to construct buildings with various rescue models.

These include provision of structures with free means of escape, fire alarms as well as detection systems and an automatic sprinkler in case of fire.

For his part, the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) commissioner general, Mr Pius Nyambacha, blames the citizens themselves for not being aware of firefighting procedures. He insists on firefighting training for members of the public, starting with journalists.

“We will train groups, which will do the same to others, on how they can fight fire if it erupts in their areas…for starters, we will train journalists on firefighting and rescue process,” noted Mr Nyambacha.

“Incidents of fire outbreaks in our country will not go down unless people’s level of awareness on their duties to prevent fire is raised,” warned Mr Nyambacha.

“We don’t want fire incidents to occur at all…fire does not start like a bomb but begins slowly.

It is wrong for people to think that the first response to a fire is to call firefighters,” said the commissioner general.

Mr Nyambacha says that it is very difficult to respond to an emergency call with the country’s current infrastructure. He notes that the fire department has improved in terms of ‘quickness’ in arriving at the incident area.

The Dar es Salaam special zone commander, Mr Bakari Mrisho, blames the shortage of fire fighters in the country, pointing out that there are plans to recruit more members.

“We need more rescuers to join our team as this will ensure that at least the brigade has sufficient workers,” noted Mr Mrisho when interviewed at a past event in the city.

A firefighter from a private company, Mr George Bilinge, says that most Tanzanians do not know the ABC’s of firefighting and rescue process, which he says is inappropriate for the nation’s safety.

“They need to be offered even a basic training on firefighting…some fires cannot wait for the squad to put them out… it’s better for people to know how to deal with fire,” noted Mr Bilinge, detailing the importance of a preliminary training in firefighting especially in residential areas.

On the set procedures, Mr Bilinge blames the squad for being lenient to contractors and owners of buildings because the law stipulates that those who fail to comply can be charged in courts of law.

He noted that many buildings and community halls do not have adequate free and unobstructed means of escape or automatic fire sprinklers as the law requires.

He also admits that most high rise buildings in Tanzania fall short, by far, of standards stipulated in the fire prevention law.

The expert advises high rise building owners to employ fire protection managers.

“This is crucial as the person will be well trained in fire incidents… but many, if not all owners, concentrate on fire detection systems and employ caretakers or managers who have no prior knowledge of firefighting,” advised Mr Bilinge.

This was also raised in the aftermath of the recent fire at MBP, whereby the Fire brigade officials blamed the owners of the building for not being extra careful in handling fire incidents.

“Fire and Rescue rules demand that every factory premises should install a reservoir for fire extinguishing liquids. This facility has none. The law must be observed if we are to avert fire disasters,” said commander Mrisho.

These have also been highlighted as a problem when it comes to firefighting because sometimes they slow down fire trucks.

“I wonder whether this blame on traffic jams is sometimes genuine,” says Mr Kessy Kiyuyu who works at Mwenge Bus Stand.

When talking to a reporter from The Citizen recently, Mr Kiyuyu said that during fire incident at the bus stand his colleagues had to wait for almost two hours before the rescue team arrived.

“We called them and waited for a longer time than we had expected and when they came here all we heard was blame on the jam,” complained Mr Kiyuyu.

He advised the government to establish new routes to help residents in case of fire outbreaks.

Commenting on the traffic snarl ups, the commissioner general elaborates that they sometimes hinder the fire department from performing its duties well. “Yes, sometimes we are faced with that problem, which makes us seem lazy or incompetent even though the truth is that we are not,” says Mr Nyambacha.

He goes on to say that there is a need for the government to improve infrastructure, especially roads, to allow the crew quick access to incident areas.

For this year only, there have been six notable fire incidents, including the PPF Tower building at the city centre, the Pharmacy Warehouse at Mikocheni and the Chemi & Cotex industry at Mbezi Beach.

There was also the fire which destroyed 12 stalls at Mwenge bus stand, MBP and the recent one at Sapna Phone dealers shop around the Askari Monument also at the city centre, just to mention a few.