APPLICATION OF GEOSPATIAL TECHNIQUES IN FIRE EMERGENCY RESPONSE IN LAGOS ISLAND, NIGERIA.

Abstract

Emergencies are unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action or an urgent need for assistance or relief (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2018). Emergency Response is an action taken in response to an unexpected and dangerous occurrence in an attempt to mitigate its impact on people or the environment (Safeopedia, 2018). It is believed to be the second phase of the emergency management cycle (BusinessDictionary.com, 2018). In dealing with emergencies, many of the critical problems that arise are inherently spatial. GIS has been designed to support such geographical inquiry and, ultimately, spatial decision making. GIS is a technology that captures, manages, analyzes, and displays data in ways that reveal information to answer questions and solve problems involving spatial content (AlSharif, 2010). The aim of this study is to apply GIS to fire emergency responses in Lagos Island Local Government Area with a view to improving fire emergency response and management. This was achieved by assessing the frequency of occurrence of fire incidence, analyzing the spatial distribution of fir outbreaks, assessing the effectiveness of existing fire preventive measures, examining the extent of application of GIS in fire emergency response and developing a GIS based fire emergency response mobile application for the study area. The research design adopted in this research work is the Survey Research Design. This was employed to investigate and assess the occurrence of fire incidences, spatial spread of fire outbreaks and fire service points, and also fire emergency management practices in Lagos Island Local Government Area, Nigeria. A total of 136 questionnaires were administered across the study area. The figure was arrived at based on the data obtained from the Lagos State Fire Service (LSFS) as the number of fire incidents which had occurred between the year 2014 and 2018 – the period under consideration. The data obtained from the LSFS also clearly spells out the location of these fire incidents thereby aiding easy identification of the buildings concerned. Respondents below the age of 18 were not accommodated as respondents. This study has assessed the effectiveness of fire emergency responses in Lagos Island Local Government Area. This is with a view to employing geospatial tools to improve its management and practices within the study area. The study assessed the frequency of occurrence of fire incidence in the study area; this was done to know the figure of incidences across the period under consideration, if there was an increase or sharp drop in the occurrence of these fire outbreaks. There was a slight increase between 2014 and 2015 while there was a reasonable level of reduction through 2016 and 2017, there was an increase during the 2018 calendar year however. The months of September to February recorded the highest occurrence of fire outbreaks across the study area while the months of March – August had the least occurrence of fire outbreaks, this period also coincides with the wet season in Nigeria which is believed to span between April to October. The spatial distribution/pattern of incidences of fire outbreaks within the study area was also analyzed. 85% of commercial buildings engulfed by fire during the period under review are located around the densely populated eastern side of the island contains the main markets and the low-income housing. The locations with frequent occurrence of industrial/company fire outbreaks between 2014 – 2018 within the study area are Marina, Martin Street, Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), CMS, Moloney Street, Boyle Street Onikan, Obun Eko Street, Ereko Street amongst others. The interval of 06:00 – 11:59 hours and 12:00 – 17:59 hours had the highest occurrence of fire outbreak within the period under review with 28.83% and 29.73% respectively. Fire outbreaks in the study area within the period of 2014 to 2018 occurred more in residential buildings with 29% of all incidences. Commercial and Company/Industrial land use account for 25% and 19% respectively of all fire outbreaks. The effectiveness of existing fire preventive measures in the study area was assessed. 75% of respondents indicated that the response level of emergency first responders in the area is at the quickest10 minutes and above (responders within this time frame were community individuals in most cases), 6 minutes later than the NFPA accepted standard of 4 minutes. Fire extinguishers are the most commonly used firefighting equipment by respondents within the study area accounting for 51% of all equipments used. 17% of respondents admitted to not having any form of measure or equipment to combat fire in the eventuality of an outbreak. The study also examined the extent of the application of GIS in fire emergency response in the study area. It was observed that the level of application of GIS inclined technology such as use of GIS software, geo-coordinating of fire stations and hydrants points, use of unmanned aircraft systems, use of computer aided designs is at the moment virtually non-existent within the operations of the Lagos State Fire Service and other first responders. Lastly, a GIS based fire emergency response mobile application for the study area was developed under Postgre SQL and QGIS platform. The fire emergency response system basically operates on a geodatabase containing information bordering on fire incidents, fire hydrants, hospitals and land use. This research has brought to fore the frequency of occurrence and the spatial spread of fire outbreaks in Lagos Island Local Government Area. It has also examined the extent of the application of GIS in fire emergency response as well as fire preventive measures within the study area. A web based GIS fire emergency response application has also been developed. If adopted, it will bring about improvement in fire emergency response and management.