Fire fighting: NASFA calls for establishment of directorate

Shola Adekola, Lagos

Diezani Alison-Madueke, Minister of
TransportTO ensure that the airport rescue and fire fighting service across the nation’s airports is operated at a level commensurate with the applied policies and for the effective rescue, especially in a survivable aircraft accident, the Federal Government has been urged to create a directorate of Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (ARFFS).

The call was made at a conference held by the Nigerian Aviation Fire and Safety Association (NAFSA) in Lagos on ‘Aerodrome Rescue Fire Fighting, the responsibility of all.’ In the paper he presented, national president of NAFSA, Paul Asekome, explained some of the important factors involved in effective rescue.

According to Asekome, training and retraining of fire fighting personnel and good maintenance of equipment, for example, determine the speed with which personnel and equipment designated for rescue and fire fighting can operate effectively and efficiently.

Besides the request for a directorate, the association also wants the department to be zoned into four units having in each of the zones a general manager who is a fire officer. “This will enhance proper coordination of the day to day monitoring of airports fire cover. It will also eliminate delays of reports reaching the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) headquarters,”Asekome said.

While saying NAFSA in its pragmatic approach believed in constant dialogue between the staff and the management in order to maintain spelt out rules and regulations as it is applicable in annex 14 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), NAFSA also reminded the government of the need for adequate investment in infrastructure and to follow the rules as contained in annex 14 of the ICAO.

Appreciating the government’s efforts in dealing with the safety of lives and property in aviation industry, the association called for more efforts that will provide necessary modern equipment since they said most of the present equipment is likely to become ineffective in the next few years.

Calling for the training of fire officers to be carried out at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, NAFSA requested that the FAAN training school should be incorporated with NCAT as a satellite campus for fire fighters to take care of managements’ inability of training a good number of fire fighters in overseas because of cost implications.

NAFSA, in making case for its members on the occasion, said, “All our members who have their international fire engineering certificates should be promoted to up to chief fire officers GL 14, pending when other degree courses will be attended at NCAT or overseas before they can be promoted to become fire managers.

Those already in GL 14 and have undergone training in Cameroon should be promoted as fire managers.These are the professional courses that make up fire fighters and not just certificates that are not relevant to the profession.” Lamenting that there was no Nigerian university that has in its curriculum fire engineering courses, NAFSA said: “That is why the first entry point certificate of an employee in this department cannot qualify him or her as fire fighter except he undergoes a three month basic fire course. And when he attends other courses of relevant discipline, his career progression need not be stagnated.”

NAFSA however called on the Minister of State for Air Transport, Felix Hyat to ensure that NCAT becomes the training centre for airport fire fighters, while FAAN training school can be approved to become a satellite campus of NCAT.