By: Kemo Kanyi
Brikama Fire and Rescue Services Station is grappling with the issue of inadequacy of firefighting equipment, hindering the station’s response capabilities.
Assistant chief fire officer Adama Sanyang bemoaned the treatment normally meted out to fire officers during emergency operations.
She explained that the Brikama fire station did not have adequate hydrants to replenish the trucks, adding that some shop owners have built their structures on the hydrants [sources of water for the fire service] whilst others covered them without realising the damage caused to their water sources.
Assistant chief fire officer Sanyang explained that officers will sometimes be forced to outsource water in Lamin village to prepare for fire emergencies.
Speaking to reporters at the Brikama Sandika on Friday following a devastating fire outbreak that destroyed goods worth millions of Dalasi, Madam Sanyang urged all citizens to assume responsibility by providing material support to the fire service, stating that the fire station in Brikama has only one old car which is susceptible to damage.
“The government did not give us any fire fighting vehicles. The one we are having is an old one donated to us by a certain country, and this can be damaged anytime. There are citizens in the country, who are very wealthy but did not deem it important to help and buy any fire-fighting equipment or truck for the fire service,” she lamented.
“During political rallies, people always complain about their needs, but you will never hear them lobbying equipment for the firemen. When emergencies occur, they [public] will attack our men, pull our pipes, pelt our men with stone, and rain all sorts of insults on us, blaming us for being at the emergency responses without water or arriving late at the scene. There is never a single day that we respond to emergency without water in our tanker,” she stated.
Assistant chief fire officer Sanyang called on the general public to allow fire officers to do their work as they were trained to do so without any interference, emphasizing that they are obliged to protect the lives and properties.