The Senatorial Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security has started to oversee the activities of the Government of Rwanda in preventing and fighting fire.

The oversight, which kicked off on Tuesday, January 25, was established following a spate of fire outbreaks across the country despite the existence of the Prime Minister’s instructions on fire prevention which were issued in 2014.

Among other aspects, the committee reviewed the inspection report of the Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA) which highlights that many public and private buildings do not have the equipment to prevent and combat fires.

The report shows a soaring number of fire outbreaks in the past three years; from 21 cases in 2018 to 71 in 2019 with 89 cases recorded in 2020.

Senators will meet with different Public institutions in charge of managing fire issues in the country.

The Committee will also tour 19 districts countrywide to assess the enforcement of the Instructions for fighting against fire in public buildings, markets and malls, commercial and artisan hubs (udukiriro), industry, among others.

Alexis Nsengumuremyi, Chairperson of Industry Chamber at the private Sector Federation (PSF) said that fire outbreaks were the major cause for misfortunes to business operators’ investments, underscoring that active and effective protection against fire is of great importance.

He said that the fire extinguishers available and functional in buildings are for first aid purposes, pointing out that they can be used within a minute of the fire outbreak.

This, he said, is the case because if the fire is not stopped within a minute, a fire extinguisher is no longer helpful as the powder it uses to put out it is exhausted.

For major fire outbreaks, he said there is a need for fire brigade to put it out using fire trucks.

Nsengumuremyi said that investments were needed to ensure firefighting systems including enough fire trucks are available in cities and other parts of the country for swift response to save lives and property.

"There is an issue of few fire trucks, which results in fire response delays,” he said, indicating that fire should be stopped within at least 45 minutes of outbreak, otherwise the affected properties including buildings will be engulfed.  

Though the fire brigade commonly uses water to douse fire, he pointed out that there is a shortage of water (usually in tanks) needed for this activity around the affected properties.

"There is a need for investment in a firefighting network,” he said.

One of the mechanisms to effectively tackle fires, he said, is ensuring the availability of fire hydrants. These devices, he said, help the fire brigade easily get enough water to effectively extinguish fire by connecting their pipes onto them.

A fire hydrant is a device that firefighters can use to obtain water from the main supply, consisting of a barrel, connections for hose and a valve assembly.

Senator John Bonds Bideri, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security said that the Senate, through the Committee, wanted to know what the Government was doing in line with preventing and fighting fire outbreaks.

"Under the Government’s seven year programme known as NST1 (first phase of the National Strategy of Transformation, which runs until 2024), the Government is committed to protecting Rwandan residents from fire incidents, which have been occurring in factories, residential and workplace buildings,  public places such as schools, hospitals, among others. So, we are mandated to assess how this is being done,” he said.  

According to the 2019 national contingency plan for fire incidents by the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management, Fire and Rescue Brigade is currently mainly operational in the City of Kigali, and has limited intervention capacity.

On its reinforcement, it indicated that there were measures including extension of fire and rescue services in provinces and districts as stipulated by Ministerial instructions on fire safety management in Rwanda.

It said that the Rwanda National Police (RNP) were to outline a plan for decentralisation of fire brigade, and Local Government authorities to purchase firefighting equipment for their respective districts for the proper functioning of the brigades.

Also, the plan provided for the installation of public fire hydrants in cities and towns was.