Katsina - No fewer than eight persons died while property worth N114.5 million were lost in various fire incidents in Katsina State in 2012, an official has said.
Gide Sani, the state commissioner for Information, Culture and Home Affairs, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Katsina that 289 emergency calls were received during the period.
According to him, a total of 30 lives and property worth N386 million were saved by firemen in the state.
The figure, he added, represented a sharp reduction in number of fire outbreaks recorded in 2011, when 19 lives and property worth N400 million were lost.
He said, ``In the year 2011, the state fire service department saved 39 lives and property valued at N1.1 billion.”
The commissioner attributed the reduction in fire incidents to the continued public enlightenment campaign by the state fire service.
He said the government had provided fire fighting equipment and chemicals worth over N10 million which assisted the operations of the fire service department during the year under review.
Sani urged the public to be extra-careful while handling fire, especially during the harmattan, and to report fire incidents to the nearest fire service offices.
NAN