A test to see how they would react yields predictable results
Workers at the Ogun State Secretariat, Abeokuta, panicked and fled the area following a fire simulation exercise by the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA).
The exercise, which featured the burning of tyres, sent smoke into the secretariat.
NEMA?s Coordinator in the South West, Iyiola Akande, said that the essence of the alarm was for the agency to assess how civil servants would react to fire outbreak; enable the agency to assess the level of readiness of facilities needed to combat an inferno; and educate workers on what to do in the event of a fire outbreak.
Addressing the workers after normalcy was restored, Akande, who apologised for not informing them about the exercise, said “fire doesn’t tell before it comes”.
He stressed the need for the secretariat to be equipped with adequate facilities to check fires.
The Commander, Ogun State Fire Service, Olusegun Ajibola, advised the civil servants to be conversant with all the exit points in the different offices, and warned them against panic in such an emergency situation so as avoid making mistakes that could result in their being trapped in the inferno.
