I received with excitement the news of new investment in fire protection cover in Rwanda. I know the acquisition of four fire fighting trucks by the Rwanda National Police means a lot to the fire fighting fraternity, but even more to Rwanda’s economic development and safer working environment.

The four trucks cost Rwf2 billion; the economic loss to fire outbreaks in the last 2 years (2012-14) was Rwf5 billion, according to Emmanuel Gasana, the Police chief.

He did not mention the human cost, but even one life is one too many, because fire is largely a preventable disaster. I feel sad it has taken this big loss to our small economy for us to wake up, when we should have been more proactive and foresighted.

The new trucks, to be deployed in Rwamagana (East), Huye (South), Masanze (North), and Rusizi (West), are meant to provide rapid response to fire outbreaks.

With these deployments, a great achievement as it may seem, I dare say the work is not even half-done, and I will explain why in the foregoing.

A fire fighter’s job is defined in three overriding principles – to save life, protect property and provide humanitarian assistances, in any situation.

I have witnessed our fire fighters struggle to achieve these objectives, despite their best efforts and desire to do so, for no fault of their making but either because they have been called in too late, hindered by traffic, or they have had to respond to far places.

In the fire-fighting community the world over, time of arrival is a cardinal doctrine, and failure to meet pre-set response times attract calls for accountability, and may lead to the fire authority being penalised.

So to require a fire fighter based in Kigali to respond to a fire outbreak in Nyagatare or Rubavu, as it has been the case, is asking them to do the impossible. Still asking a fire fighting squad with one fire truck based in Rwamagana to respond to Nyagatare or the border town of Rusumo, or the one based in Huye to cover the entire south of the country, is unrealistic.

That is why I say the work is not even half-done. For near adequate fire protection cover for this country, we should aim at having fire fighting capability at the district level.

And I use ‘fire fighting capability’ deliberately! It does not have to be a fire fighting truck that costs Rwf500m at every district. For the price of a single truck, 5-10 small-medium fire fighting vehicles can be acquired.

For the same Rwf500m price tag, 150-200 large, push-able, easy to use fire extinguishers can be acquired and distributed even in the remotest areas of this beautiful country.

This can be carried on a pickup vehicle or wheeled quickly to catch a fire and put it out while still small. If Rubavu prison or Byimana School had this simple equipment, the two institutions would probably have avoided the kind of destruction caused to them by fire.

The fact that the four trucks were purchased not from the RNP budget but by the local government ministry is also an indication of a shift in the understanding of fire safety challenges and how to tackle to them. I have argued before, and let me repeat it here, that fire safety management is not a responsibility of one institution.

No single agency can claim to hold panacea or a single-bullet solution to fire outbreaks. It should be a joint effort – ‘strategic partnerships’ as local government minister Francis Kaboneka rightly put it.

Not even government should shoulder this burden alone, there is need to extend the partnerships to other economic actors. Sectors such as insurance, banking, hospitality (hotels), housing & real estate etc, should chip in to support government effort.

In any case, they are the big losers in fire outbreaks. Bring in fire safety education and public awareness of proactive fire protection measures, and we have grip on this fire menace.

The author is a fire safety management and training consultant.