High fire risk engulfs Dar

SUNDAY NEWS Reporters

IF you thought armed robbers were the most dangerous enemies threatening your life and property in Dar es Salaam City, you are completely wrong because the number one atrocious adversary is fire.

This revelation was made public recently by Assistant Inspector of Police Raymond Mgaya, who works with Tanzania Fire and Rescue Force, Temeke Region as Training Officer.

It was during a special training on fire safety awareness conducted for Tanzania Standard (Newspapers) Limited (TSN) staff recently when AIP Mgaya gave details on how Dar es Salaam City was such a fire risk city.

According to AIP Mgaya, Dar es Salaam City poses serious challenges when fire accidents occur due to a number of reasons, with poor urban planning being the major factor that hinders fire extinguishing and rescue operations.

Speaking from his own experience and expertise, AIP Mgaya said majority of fire incidents end up bringing losses of life and property due to inaccessibility of locations by fire engines.

“Dar es Salaam residents tend to blame us when we arrive at the scene of fire accident late or completely fail to make it to the area, forgetting that poor infrastructure curtails our performance to a greater extent,” AIP Mgaya said.

He adds: “Given the bigger size of our fire engines, it becomes difficult for us to access some areas when fire breaks out. Several times we attempt to drive our fire engines to the scenes of fire only to find later that the path or feeder road to the scene does not allow us to access the fire spot.”

The blame was apportioned to city residents themselves for not leaving enough space between one house and another that could act as passageway for vehicles. “Yes, we fully understand that poor planning is to blame, but we too bear the blame for not providing enough space between one house and another when we construct our houses,” he insisted.

In June, last year, city and municipal mayors, municipal directors and other local government executives, under Tanzania Cities Network (TACINE) met in Arusha where, among other things, they promised to reduce unplanned settlements in five cities of Tanga, Arusha, Mwanza, Mbeya and Dar es Salaam from the then 64 per cent to 50 per cent by 2020.

During the meeting, TACINE Chairperson, Temeke (Dar es Salaam) Mayor, Mr Abdallah Chaurembo told his fellow leaders that the increasing pace of unplanned settlements that plague community service delivery, sanitation and rescue was among the myriad of problems affecting major urban centres in the country.

But, AIP Mgaya also pointed an accusing finger at the aging fire and rescue equipment owned by the force, saying some of them are not up-to-date. He said majority of fire engines that still operate today were bought during the third phase government, adding that there has not been any replacement yet.

According to him, the available fire engines owned by the Fire and Rescue Force cost the government not more that 450m/- each, adding that a standard fire engine can cost between 1.5bn/- and 2bn/-. Rwanda has one.

He said given the fact that construction technologies are innovated every day individuals now resort to building sky scrapers, some with 100 floors. According to AIP Mgaya, fire engines that are available in Tanzania can serve a building holding a maximum of 30 floors only.

He revealed that majority of residents across the country, especially in urban areas are not aware of the requirement to submit their houses’ architectural designs to Fire and Rescue Force for advice and approval.

He said that it is important for individuals wishing to build residential and commercial buildings to submit their drawings to the force for approval. He added that before giving advice, the force normally inspects the site, an undertaking that costs a little amount of money.

According to AIP Mgaya, majority of individuals who construct buildings in Dar es Salaam, including skyscrapers ignore such an important step. Giving an example, he said NASACO building that was consumed by an inferno in the 1990s had its drawings disqualified by Fire and Rescue Force, especially its fire and rescue plans.

The expert in fire and rescue operations pointed out that majority of high-rise buildings and other commercial buildings in urban areas, including Dar es Salaam are constructed without fire rescue kits, with which people in the building can use to get down in case fire breaks up inside to the extent of not allowing one to use elevators or stairs.

AIP Mgaya advised owners of commercial buildings and industries to ensure they have water tanks in their vicinity from which they or fire fighters can draw water when fire breaks up. Another official with Fire and Rescue Force, who preferred anonymity, told the ‘Sunday News’ that in 2016 alone, about 150 fire incidents occurred in Ilala District.

According to him, such fire incidents occurred in residential areas, markets, garages, workshops, fuel stations, schools, hostels and in commercial buildings.

According to the official, fighting fire in Dar es Salaam city poses serious challenge due to traffic and inaccessibility to the scenes caused by poor urban planning (squatter areas).

Apart from poor urban planning, details gathered by the ‘Sunday News’ from construction experts reveal that use of cheap construction material and ignoring experts’ advice during construction aggravates fire when it breaks up.

According to them, while fire resistant construction materials are abundant in the market majority of the populations avoid them due to high prices. Last month, the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)’s officer responsible for standards, Mr Yona Afrika said the bureau set up standard specifications for construction materials to protect consumers’ lives and property.

According to Mr Afrika, TBS also came up with standard specifications in the fields of electrical engineering, civil engineering, environment, agriculture and food, packaging, labelling, textile, building, manufacturing, information and communication technologies, energy, quality management and conformity assessment and services.

Assistant Registrar with Engineers Registration Board (ERB), Eng Patrick Barozi spoke on the importance of carrying out soil analysis before constructing structures, especially the high-rise buildings.

“It is of paramount importance to establish the nature of soil on which the buildings sit. This directs us to decide the kind of foundation and the number of storeys to build. This is our duty,” he insisted.

According to him, the construction of buildings, including high-rise structures normally takes into consideration several factors such as strong winds and earthquake. Another ERB officer, Mr Mashaka Bundala shared similar expert views with Eng Barozi.

However, he said fire accidents are fuelled by cladding used in high-rise buildings, adding that the best cladding are available in the market, but property owners tend to avoid them due to high prices.