By: Amara Kargbo

The National Fire Force faces deep constraints ranging from poor medical care for staff, a few equipment, and scarce chemicals to undertake disasters operation.

The institution is charged with the responsibility to do firefighting, doing search operation of victims, undertaking emergency rescue operation, and doing fire prevention activities in the country.

It is however challenged with several of these factors and thus they stand as a herculean task on firefighters in discharging their duties of saving lives and properties during fire accidents.

Chief Fire Officer, Nazir A. A  Kamanda Bongay of Fire Force Sierra Leone, has detailed these challenges while presenting their Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Bilateral discussion in the Ministry of Finance.

He said that the force has insufficient personnel, motors, equipment, and chemicals to responding to fire accidents countrywide, adding that these concerns are a big threat since the force has a national responsibility to responding to emergencies. But, he added, they are brave to do such risky tasks with very limited capacity and resources.

Bongay said that informal housing construction and settlements are prone to rapid fire threats and the expansion of these houses will result in too many losses of peoples’ lives and casualties.

He referenced the impact of such informal settlements of communities like Kroo Bay and Susans Bay in west of Freetown.

He observed that the magnitude of the problem of fire outbreaks and burning is sometimes in many affected places tend to be enormous as victims would often  see the deaths of their loved ones, others injured, displaced, while thousands or if not, millions in account for property lost.

“The incident of fire disaster has drastically increased destroying property worth millions of leones and claiming lives across the country. Other fire-related problems facing the poor innocent fire victims in the country include huge medical bills, psychological imbalance, trauma, and housing,” The chief fire department said.

He noted that fire disasters and their associated hazards became huge concerns in 2021 in Sierra Leone, and hence the need to emphasize the issue of improving the capacity of the National Fire Force which is a critical imperative.

He described the current status of the Sierra Leone Fire Force as an “embryonic fire service” in every sense.

The organization consists of just 427 dedicated staff, working in the most challenging of environments with very little personnel and equipment.

The National Fire Force seeks to protect approximately 1.6 million inhabitants of Sierra Leoneans just in the capital, Freetown.

But, now, it’s decrepit with just ten (10) fire appliances and with access to less than ten fire hydrants.

The remaining estimated 4.5 million inhabitants of the country, in the provinces, are afforded just eight (8) extremely sparsely located fire appliances to protect lives, and critical national infrastructures and eighty-five (85) recruits are now concluding their training, the fire department chief stated.

He outlined the significant commitments that will enhance the force for the next five years which include improving the welfare of service for career serving personnel, providing adequate logistics for increased capacity and for effective security survival delivery, increasing response capacity to addressing new emerging threats, reviewing existing legislations governing the security and strengthening interfaces among  staff in the security sector, the populace, Ministries Department and Agencies and government officers to ensuring that security is guaranteed to the citizenry, and that peace, and national development thrive.