N1.3 billion worth of property saved from fire in Nasarawa

By Edwin Philip, Lafia

Property worth N1.3 billion has been saved from destruction by fire in Nasarawa State, while assets valued at N2.1 billion were exposed to fire hazards.

The incidents resulted in estimated property losses of N800 million and one recorded death.

However, fire crews successfully rescued eight victims from life-threatening situations during the period. These figures were recorded across approximately 97 emergency calls received from January to date.

This was revealed by the Nasarawa State Controller of Federal Fire Service (FFS) Commander of Fire, Eno Kelechi Nwachukwu, during the flag off ceremony of the 2026 National Fire Week Awareness Campaign, which took place on Monday at the Federal Secretariat Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.

In her opening speech, Nwachukwu reaffirms Fire Service commitment to maintaining rapid response capabilities, while urging residents, business owners, and market associations to prioritize fire safety precautions and report emergencies immediately to minimize casualties and property damage.

She said ” Fire safety is not the responsibility of the Federal Fire Service alone, It is a collective responsibility that requires the active participation of government, private organizations, institutions, families, community leaders, and every individual”.

Delivering this year’s address under the theme “Building a Fire Resilient Nigeria: One Community at a time, the State Controller of Federal Fire Service, highlighted the critical need to shift from reactive emergency responses to proactive, community-driven prevention strategies.

Defining the vision of a fire-resilient nation, the State Controller described it as a state where families, schools, businesses, and industrial centers possess the awareness, capacity, and infrastructure needed to prevent disasters, respond effectively, and recover swiftly when emergencies occur.

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The Fire Service chief warned against negligence, noting that fire disasters do not discriminate between government establishments, private residences, commercial markets, or places of worship.

​To mitigate risks, the Federal Fire Service announced an intensified public education drive focusing on common household and commercial hazards.

” Key priorities include educating community members on Safe handling and storage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG/cooking gas, ​prevention of illegal and improper electrical connection​Curbing the indiscriminate burning of refuse​Proper storage of petroleum products and combustible materials

​She stressed that the nation’s overall security and economic stability begin at the local level, urging residence of the State to embrace safety standards in their daily activities to protect years of hard work, investments, and human lives.

Addressing participants at the event, the Head of Civil Service in Nasarawa, Abigail Waya Esq. represented by the Permanent service in her office, Mrs Belinda Oyigbenu Atinuke, called for a robust collaboration between the Federal Fire Service and their

Nasarawa State counterpart, in intelligence, knowledge sharing and quick mitigation of fire disasters and other rescue operations.

“And for the states, not long ago, a number of officers were employed to do the same thing that you are doing, with your own collaboration, you will help us avert disaster” she said.

She however urged residents of the State to prioritise safety by ensuring that they switch off their power sources and appliances when not in use, promptly report fire incidents before they escalate.

Commending the firemen and women, she said: when you hear fire, it means there’s disaster, so you see people running here and there, running up and down, to make sure that that disaster is arrested, here we have these people in red, the staff of FFS”

“I give you big kudos, I pray that in the course of your duty, you will not be eaten up by fire, keep up the good work and keep doing it” she added.

In his keynote address, Dr. Abubakar Alhasan of the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Federal University of Lafia, gave technical and simple approach in preventing and managing fire disaster.

“70 percent of fire of incidents are as a result of electricity, as a result of our surges, overload of the cables, extensions is homes, our residential houses see most of these fires and as well as the markets are the places where deaths occur” .

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“See in 2025 reports, residential houses recorded the highest premise in which all these fire incidents were recorded, about 693 houses were affected, markets 190 and other places were 105, the markets record the highest number of deaths. about 39 were recorded,”he said.

According to him, illegal storage of petroleum products, the cigarettes and the bush burning, gas related fires, accident and vehicular incidents, account for several fire outbreaks.

He cautioned against engaging unqualified electricians in house wirings, replace damaged cables, storing fuel and safely, should be stored in residential buildings.

“So it’s the federal fire service that is the hub of all the stakeholders because they are in charge to equip, train, and also coordinate the community fire safety committees”

​”The markets and trade associations, the schools and universities, our faith and traditional leaders, also the State fire services, the media, and also the non-governmental organizations for collaborations” he added.

The event featured plenary sessions of sharing of experiences about fire disasters, success stories and the way forward.

Participants in the event were drawn from security outfits, educational institutions, hospitality sector, market men and women, traditional and religious leaders as well as the media.

The event also featured award presentation to individuals and groups on their efforts towards managing fire disasters and supporting the Federal Fire Service.

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