Author
Reference
Benard.,
L., (2015): The need to support Kenyan fire stations for
flood emergency response. Intel
Fire Group of Companies Blog. Nairobi, Kenya.
The need to support Kenyan fire stations for flood emergency
response
 |
| Narok floods showing a vehicle submerged in water |
It is no doubt that rain in any part of Africa
is a blessing, but this blessing also comes with what may be called curses and
one of them is flooding. Recently the Kenyan news stations have been awash with
pictures of flood emergencies in different parts of the country with the most
sight moving being the Narok floods. In the reported news scenario, the
vehicles and the temporary structures are moved like small objects by the
raging floods. Coupled with a weather forecast that is uncertain in most
instances, Kenya County governments strongly need to consider supported their
local fire stations to aid in flood emergency response as the local well
established disaster response unit.
During this kind of emergencies the
local fire stations would take the leading role during rescue missions and even
give updates on the status of the response. The current scenario depict the
exact opposite where the private firms take charge during emergencies and the
over dependence on the Kenya Red Cross which by all standards have proved to
provide reactive measures to emergency situations across board. If the fire
stations were well equipped then they would play a proactive role is flood
emergencies response and supported during reactive roles by the likes of Kenya
Red Cross.
The role of fire station during flood emergencies
The fire stations should be trained to
design proactive and reactive actions to be taken that will reduce physical
loss to buildings, machinery and equipment, and stock or supplies so the
affected residents and areas can resume operations as quickly as possible after
the flood is over. One of the proactive roles of the fire station would be to
monitor potential flood event by getting constant updates from the weather man.
Some of the Kenyan fire-fighters and more so their station managers have no
idea which ministry and department their weather man is stationed. The question
therefore is, is the Kenyan meteorological department functions devolved? As it stands now, a NO! would do and most
certainly good so but their should be a link between the Ministry of
Environment, Water and Natural Resources where the Kenya Meteorological Department
(KMD) is located and the local county fire stations to share information on
weather conditions especially for floods and droughts which are perennial receipt
for disasters.
The reactive actions that can be
undertaken by the fire department after the floods would include: removal of
remaining floodwater, mud, and debris from residents areas using wash down
hoses, brooms, squeegees, mops, sump pumps and cleanup supplies; analyse all
salvageable materials and equipment, begin discard or removal of all
non-salvageable materials or equipment; and conduct a safety walkthrough with
the county safety committee and other building and utility officials.
The support
It would be prudent to recognize the
fire department at the county level as the devolved disaster management and
response unit that should be utilized to respond to local disaster both
proactively and reactively. For every 10 ambulances bought by the county
government, a consideration should be made to buy at least one fire engine for
the fire department. Also consideration should be taken into account to equip
fire departments with ambulance response for medical emergencies like road
accidents, falling from height. What has been reported indicates that the
county governments are buying a host of ambulance to either boost hospital or
local county police services.
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| A car swept by floods in Narok river |
Equip the fire-fighters with the
necessary skills to be able to respond to disasters like flooding. Most of the
county fire department are in dire need of capacity building as there are no
specialized institutions in Kenya that explicitly offer flood disaster
management training at the lower cadre of the majority of the fire-fighters who
are not able to afford training in the only university offering disaster
management training in Kenya.
In conclusion, flood emergency response
requires a candid response plan that should be both proactive and reactive in
nature. The county fire department should seek alliance with the Kenyan Meteorological
Department (KMD) not only to monitor flooding forecasts but also the drought
forecast in their areas to take necessary measures before and after the event. Disaster
Management should be prioritize all the time and not only during the disaster occurring
like it is the norm currently/
The Author is a Research Generalist in Projects Management Specializing
in Safety Service Delivery
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