The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in collaboration with the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA), has inaugurated a sensitisation drive to curtail the spread of tanker fire explosions.

The campaign was inaugurated on Wednesday at the tankers’ park in Nassarawa-Eggon Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

Speaking at the event, Babatunde Razak-Adebiyi, the North-Central NEMA coordinator in charge of Plateau, Nasarawa, and Benue States, said the event aimed to curb tanker fires.

He said NEMA was collaborating with state emergency agencies, fire service, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and tanker drivers to help curtail the rate of road fire disasters.

Mr Razak-Adebiyi attributed fire incidents involving tankers to road traffic crashes, equipment failure, and human error, saying that addressing such situations required collective and coordinated efforts of all stakeholders.

He, therefore, called on the tanker drivers to imbibe the lessons learnt from the firefighting agency to avoid the loss of lives and the escalation of fire whenever it happens.

On his part, Ben Akwash, the director-general of NASEMA, said sensitisation was part of the proactive measures by the state and federal governments to tackle the increasing rate of tanker fires.

Mr Akwash decried incidents of fire disasters involving tankers that were not properly managed, leading to the loss of lives and property in many states.

The NASEMA boss urged tanker drivers to be cautious on the roads and advised the public to always run for their lives whenever a tanker loaded with petroleum products falls.

Mr Akwash said the state emergency agency would replicate the sensitisation in all 13 local government areas to reach more tanker drivers.

In a presentation, the controller of the Federal Fire Service in Nasarawa State, Nwachuku Eno-Kelechi, urged tanker drivers to run for their lives in cases of fire disasters before looking for ways to quench it.

The controller recommended that drivers should always use quality fire extinguishers for effective handling of fire outbreaks.

He also advised tanker drivers to always try to disengage the battery of a petrol-laden tanker that has fallen and call the fire service for a prompt response to de-escalate the fire.

Also, Dominic Ezeanya, head of operations, FRSC in Nassarawa-Eggon, urged tanker drivers to carry out regular maintenance of their trucks, engage in regular training, road assessment, emergency preparedness and others.

He cautioned the drivers against speeding and overtaking at sharp corners to avert loss of lives and property on the road.

(NAN).