A recent spate of fire incidents in Kigali, Muhanga and Rubavu have raised questions about the country’s emergency preparedness, with some members of the public claiming that firefighters generally delay to respond to alerts.

In some cases, such as the fire that gutted Muhanga prison last month, Police had to dispatch a fire-fighting brigade and equipment from Kigali, and even when they finally arrived on the ground, some vehicles had no water to put out the blaze.

And, when a fire broke out in Kigali’s business hub Quartier Mateus, last week, Police reportedly took close to an hour to get to the scene, even as some people claimed they had alerted the Force as soon as the fire broke out.

But Supt. Modeste Mbabazi, the Police spokesperson in the City of Kigali, said the Rwanda National Police had responded swiftly whenever an alert was received.

Yet he faulted the public for sometimes delaying to report fire incidents immediately only to do so after they have failed to put out the blaze themselves, and the motorists who he said make it difficult for the fire fighting vehicles to navigate through traffic.

"Nonetheless our fire fighting vehicles are normally at the scene of the incident as soon as possible, sometimes in less than 30 minutes depending on the distance involved,” he told The New Times.

Mbabazi added: "Much depends on when we are informed. There are times when people first try to put out the fire on their own and when they realise it is getting out of hand that is when they report. That is what happened in the case of Quartier Mateus, and that is wrong.”

He insisted that police had consistently worked hard to raise public awareness on the need to immediately alert the force in case of a fire outbreak via emergency toll free lines [111 for fire brigade and 112 for emergency calls].

"We continue to communicate this as much as possible but the public also need to play their part and do the right thing whenever there is a fire incident,” he said.

Supt. Mbabazi further said the public can also call 0788-31-11-62 (main Police call centre), 0788-31-12-24 (Standby fire fighting desk) or 0788-31-11-63 for the Joint Operations Centre (JOC), which brings together army, police and other security organs.

When one calls the call centre, the operator asks you to terminate the call and then they will call back immediately to collect details. "Once any of those numbers receives a fire alert, the officer in charge of the vehicles will immediately swing into action without wasting time.”

"It’s an issue which we need to address collectively, right from the person at the scene of fire outbreak to the motorists who should help clear the way for the fire fighting brigade,” added Mbabazi. "I suppose it’s an issue of mindset”.

Police are the main custodians of the country’s fire fighting equipments, with four vehicles on standby at the Rwanda National Police headquarters, in Kacyiru, according to ACP Damas Gatare, the police spokesperson.

He said the Rwanda National Police was in the process to procure 16 new fire fighting trucks in the current fiscal year, with six of them already on the way.

These vehicles, he said, will be deployed at the provincial level, even as some observers have argued that each district should be empowered with fire fighting capacity. There are 30 districts during all, and four provinces plus the City of Kigali.

Ignatius Mugabo, a fire fighting expert and manager of Mugolds International Fire Risk Management Ltd, concurs with Mbabazi saying sometimes members of the public make it difficult for fire fighters to access fire scenes in time.

"In the case of Quartier Mateus, for instance, I was shocked to see motorists not giving way to a fire fighting vehicle,” he told The New Times. "These are vehicles that must have right of way because they are on the way to save somebody’s life. Drivers ought to give way just as they do when it is the presidential convoy passing.”

He added: "The motoring public must learn to give right-of-way to emergency vehicles. There are still glaring gaps in this sector, and it may take a bit of time to close them.”

However, Albert Nizeyimana, a taxi operator around the Gisementi area in Remera, expressed reservations on the assertion that motorists refuse to give way to fire fighting vehicles. "These are emergency vehicles with lights on and with sirens...unless the motorist is in such a tight spot.”

"But it is important to talk about these things so that people keep watching their behaviour on the road,” he added.

Nilla Muneza, the chairperson of Royal Express, a public bus transport cooperative, said they were also concerned with fire safety issues, and continually urged their members (drivers) to always leave way for emergency vehicles, including fire fighting cars.

"We meet twice every week, at least for 15 minutes on each occasion. These days one of the main messages is about facilitating movement of fire fighting vehicles,” he said. "Whether in a jam or not, we advise our drivers to always either leave space in the middle of the road in case of a two-way road, or drive close to the pavements to allow overtake,” he added.

But he said drivers of private cars are often culpable of such traffic indiscipline.

On the issue of fire fighting vehicles running out of water at a critical moment, Supt Mbabazi said there are few water points in the city. "There are only two fire hydrants which fit to our hosepipes, he said, citing the one at I&M Rwanda (former BCR) headquarters and the one at Camp Kigali.

He said the other fire hydrants, including the one at Kigali City Tower, "don’t match our vehicles’ hosepipes, so when fire fighters are unable to refill vehicles, the alternative is going back to the Police headquarters (in Kacyiru) or Kimisagara”.

Police has largely blamed electric circuit for most of the recent fires, with calls to the public to replace old and shoddy installations, observe minimum standards while setting up new wiring systems, and handling of electrical appliances.

This week the government announced it had set up a multi-agency taskforce to investigate the possible causes of recent fires, with one of the latest infernos ravaging a business complex in Nyabugogo on Tuesday.

There are growing suspicions of arsonists being behind these incidents, especially after arsonists were found responsible for three fires that gutted the Muhanga-based Byimana school of Sciences last year.

Police has not ruled out the possible hand of arsonists and has urged public vigilance.

The inquiry is composed of officers from the Rwanda National Police, the Ministry of Infrastructure; Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA); and Rwanda Housing Authority.

In the last two weeks alone, at least four fire incidents have been recorded, including one that destroyed part of the prison in Rubavu, which caused a stampede that killed five inmates, leaving at least 60 others injured.

Meanwhile, Mbabazi appealed to owners of buildings to ensure proper electric installations.

He also called on the private sector to venture into fire control business, especially in providing fire fighting services. "For example, if businesses in town bought one or two fire fighting vehicles and positioned them in the city centre, it would greatly help in response efforts.”

We are ready to support such private initiatives including providing training on how to use the equipment, he said.

Last week, the Government issued new fire safety rules, with the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs later giving a six-month ultimatum for building owners and businesses to have complied with the instructions.

Mugabo welcomed the new rules but said strict enforcement was needed. "Now is the time to get things done, to raise our fire safety levels.”

He also called on the private sector to invest in fire safety services, giving the example of Kenya, where he said most fire fighting services are run by private businesses.

Private investments can accelerate the process of closing gaps, he said. "They should invest in fire safety management because fire affects everyone.”

"It should be a public private partnership. It is not realistic to leave everything to the government, because the latter should be more involved with coordination and setting the standards,” he said.

Hannington Namara, the CEO, Private Sector Federation (PSF), admitted that businesses can do much better, but added the private sector was not the one to blame either.

He said with fire safety instructions now in place, businesses may see an opportunity. "Fire safety is a challenge to everybody but it is also an opportunity for the private sector to step forward and bolster national fire preparedness.”