The Cross River Command of the Federal Fire Service said it contended with 20 fires between January and December 2022.

The Commanding Officer of the command, Olumayowa Olomola, disclosed this in an interview in Calabar on Monday.

Mrs Olomola said that property valued at over N9 billion was destroyed in the incidents.

She said that the command recorded one death, while three persons sustained injuries.

According to her, the property destroyed included a transformer at the TCN 33 KVA sub-station line at Adiabo, worth N2.6 billion.

“We also had the fire at the Marian Fruits Market, which affected over 13 lockup shops with goods and also the Airtel mast near Governor’s Office.

“We also responded to two fire incidents at the University of Calabar, another one at a Catholic school and one Mobile Base transformer,” Mrs Olomola said.

She identified the high cost of diesel and crowd control at incident scenes as the major challenge of the organisation.

“We are also faced with the lack of a water tanker and an ambulance, which is a hindrance to our efficient performance.

“Again, crowd invasion of fire scenes often denies us easy access most times.

“Unfortunately, the aim of some persons in the crowd is to steal from the scene.

“We also have the problem of heavy traffic and distance to scenes of fire,” she said.

(NAN)