Role of Kenyan Firefighter during terror attack

Role of Kenyan Firefighter during terror attack

By Bernard Lango

An alarm has been sounded, not once, not twice but several times in fire departments across Kenya. There is an equivocal need to decide whether the Kenya fire departments have a role to play during terror attacks. It begs the question, what role do the fire departments play in preparing for, and preventing terrorism attacks. The fight against terrorism in Kenya should not be left to the national government but the county governments should leverage the capabilities of their fire departments to enhance their effectiveness to counter local terror attacks. There is need for the national government to integrate the county fire departments which have unique capabilities for safeguarding local properties and improve public safety across the board.

 

In Kenya, according to the defunct IIEBC report on status of the county government, each and every county has an established fire department complete with manpower and capabilities. Even though several research conducted in Kenya indicates that there are more permanent ly employed fire fighters than the volunteers ones, there is need for Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to develop a curriculum for fire safety in Kenya to address the local needs. Firefighters should be the first personnel at the scene of an accident or medical emergency, where they usually perform a wide range of vital functions.

Many of the core competencies that fire departments draw on in responding to, mitigating and preventing natural or manmade disasters can be directed towards preventing terror attacks. Fire departments across the country should enforce compliance with fire prevention codes and conduct building inspections as required by law. These activities put fire departments in a unique position to notice signs that a violent attack is being planned.

Every firefighter is by law “peace officer” and duty-bound to report anything unseemly that he or she comes across. However a role in intelligence-gathering beyond identifying actual and potential hazards would represent an expansion of fire department traditional mission. With their access to private property, their contacts in the local county government, and the levels of trust they enjoy, firefighters can do more than simply identify prospectively, or respond to, situations posing physical danger.

They can actually gather, make sense of, and report on circumstances that might hint at terrorist involvement and intent, helped in part by community networks they construct to recognize risks. But if they assume this new mission, they must be wary of encroaching on traditional law-enforcement functions, avoid violating citizens’ civil liberties and retain the trust they now enjoy. In any event, a new relationship with law-enforcement and intelligence agencies would have to be forged. There is every reason to think that fire departments can operate effectively within such constraints.