Ibadan Journal of the Social Sciences
Volume 13, No. 2, 2015
DOI: 10.36108/ijss/5102.31.0280
Fire Outbreaks and Residential Neighbourhoods Vulnerability in Lagos, Nigeria
Oluwasinaayomi Faith Kasim and Charles Olufisayo Olatubara
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
Residential fire is a common disaster that impact human environment negatively. It has been documented that response to fire disaster in Lagos state, and by extension Nigeria, has been unanticipated, unplanned, and often poorly coordinated. Most time, response could be as calamitous as the disaster, compounding the impact of fire outbreaks on affected persons. Irrespective of what causes fire disaster and where it occurs, its consequences are often influenced by environmental, political and socio-economic disposition of human. The paper adopts qualitative and quantitative approaches in eliciting required information while focusing on the recorded residential fire outbreaks in Lagos from 2008 – 2015. This paper argues that vulnerability to fire disaster varies across residential neighbourhoods and from 2008 – 2015 in Lagos. In order to minimize the economic impact, loss of lives, property, livelihoods, and reversals in development gains associated with fire disasters, the paper recommends the strengthening of the capacity of the disaster management agencies in Lagos; disaster education; implementation of one building, at least, one fire extinguisher policy; loss-sharing; and mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction into developmental strategies and programmes.
Keywords: Fire outbreak, Residential neighbourhoods, Fire triangle concept, Insurance loss-sharing, fire extinguisher, Lagos