Uganda has the best Fire Department - Police

FIRE   

KAMPALA - The Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, Patrick Onyango, has assured the public that Uganda has the best fire department in Central and East Africa that can contain any serious fire in the city.

Onyango was responding to all Ugandans who have been saying that the fire department is ill-equipped and cannot respond appropriately to inferno outbreaks. When Makerere University's main building - Ivory Tower - caught fire over the weekend, people who were at the scene said that most of the vehicles that came had no water.

Speaking to New Vision, Onyango noted that right now the department can fight a fire on a 12 storied building with modern equipment.

"We have the best equipment in the region, we can even fight a fire on Lake Victoria in case a vessel has caught fire and we can go beyond the 12 floors of any building in the city, with skilled firemen," Onyango said.

Firefighters are always trained 12 months before they are passed out.

According to Luke Owoyesigire, the Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Spokesperson, all regions with police stations have fire departments and active emergency phones.

"Our department is up to date, the only challenge why we do not make it in time is traffic jam, roads which are not clearly marked. We depend on direction," said Owoyesigire.

One of the biggest problem firefighters face are the few fire hydrant in place, A fire hydrant is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. It is a component of active fire protection.

Joseph Mugisha, the head of the fire brigade called upon all Ugandans who are doubtful that the fire department is ill-equipped to visit their headquarters and have an experience.

Onyango outlined several measures the public should put in place to work with the fire department.

"We are calling upon people to always leave enough space for big cars when constructing their houses, in case a fire caught Katanga, it would be very difficult for us to fight it because the place is congested and not accessed. Our vehicles are not like Vitzs that they can fit anywhere," said Onyango.

He also complained of people who see the fire and first try to fight it instead of informing them.

"In most cases, the community informs us when it is late, they first try on their own and when they fail that is when they call us, yet they should call us first, those who spread rumour that the vehicles come without water do not know how they operate," he noted.

He noted that the vehicles have a capacity of water they carry when they come and start fighting the fire, the water gets finished. Some Ugandans who do not know how it operates, when they see the vehicles going back, they claim that they came empty.