Rwanda needs an independent fire safety regulatory authority solely responsible for dealing with firefighting and prevention, according to Ignatius Mugabo, a fire safety expert.
The Managing Director of MuGOLDS International, a fire risk management consulting company based in Kigali, has told The New Times that: "The Government of Rwanda should consider divorcing the Fire and Rescue Brigade from the Rwanda National Police, and give it a life of its own."
He is suggesting the establishment of a 'third force' in the country's security apparatus.
Mugabo noted that in every major country in the world, the fire protection or safety authority is spun off the national army and the national police to take responsibility for civil defense - protection of the public and national infrastructure against fire and other disasters.
"This 'third force' is not only responsible for fire prevention, firefighting, and disaster management but comprehensively deals with policies, regulation, inspections, enforcement, as well as many other strategic issues towards that goal," he said.
Mugabo noted that at the moment, in Rwanda, "the issues are scattered all over the place, shared by so many agencies and none of them is solely responsible or answerable."
According to him, the battle against fire is won, or lost, at two levels, the first being fire prevention, which includes public awareness of fire risks and adherence to fire risk management measures.
"This level also requires a strictly enforced fire safety regulatory regime," he said. "At the moment, our fire safety regulation situation is patchy and weak, and, as a result, fire safety measures in most buildings are cosmetic at best, or non-existent."
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The second level, Mugabo continues, is firefighting (reactive), both at the very basic level and at an advanced level.
"At the basic level," he explained, "we are talking about every major building having its own fire marshal (or marshals, depending on the size), who can use basic firefighting tools available to suppress fire while it is still small. Fire marshals also deal with fire prevention at the building they are responsible for. At the advanced level of firefighting, we are talking about the intervention of the Fire and Rescue Brigade, to deal with a fire that has developed beyond the basic level."
Are there specific measures for wood and metal workshops?
Asked if there should be specific measures for wood and metal workshops since they have been facing fire accidents recently, Mugabo said the only unique point about them is that they are set in chaos.
"They have an intense level of activities like welding, wood and metal works, electric installations are the poorest, they lack access for fire fighting vehicles, and people operating there have a mindset of their own," he said.
"I think this explains the frequency of fire incidents in those places, but I have my reservations. For example, the place called Gakiriro in Gisozi has burnt six times between 2017 and 2023. That's very unusual in two ways. First, the fire can occur in one place at that frequency. Second, those in charge don't learn lessons to prevent it from happening again. Maybe if the environment they are working in can be improved, those fires will stop."
