Building community Resilience key in disaster risk reduction:Bram Simiyu chief officer disaster management Nairobi .
With 800 fire outbreaks reported in the year 2024 alone, Nairobi county chief officer for disaster management Bramuel Simiyu has urged for an all inclusive approach in disaster management and risk reduction.
Speaking early today on NTV’s breakfast show, Mr Simiyu singled out the Mradi fire inferno as one of the most challenging fire outbreak his team dealt with last year.
“The Mradi fire tragedy stretched our work force to the limit. I personally spent 38 hours on the scene but I must salute our county fire fighters for rising to the occasion and averting what would have been a calamity. The Nairobi county fire fighting team boasts of one of the best trained teams in the region”.
Fire outbreaks are a big problem in Nairobi. Last year alone we had more than 800 fires, mostly in the low-income settlements.” – Bram Simiyu, C.O – NCC
Disaster Management..When probed on why the fire engine seems to always appear late during fire tragedies, Mr Simiyu exonerated his staff by laying bare the reasons people seem to see them as having come late.
“Whenever there is a fire outbreak in Nairobi, we receive an alert and we immediately dispatch the nearest fire station to the site. Like in the case of Mradi fire, our fire engine arrived there in a record 15 minutes from the nearest station which is in Industrial areas Enterprise road. Once the fire engine is on the site first we surround the fire to ensure it doesn’t spread further as other teams start fighting and evacuating people. This exercise demands sacrifice, and expertise which Iam happy our team is equipped with”
said Simiyu
Disaster Risk Reduction department.
Mr Simiyu further outlined how the newly formed department of disaster Risk reduction is working to ensure disasters are well managed.”Disaster Risk Reduction department is a newly established department that is working to help build community resilience which is essential in risk mitigation, prevention , response and recovery.”
“Those who know me well or those who have interacted with me in the line of duty know this simple formular which is necessary in our trade. FRS+DRR=PMRR where FRS-Fire Rescue Services+Disaster Risk Reduction =(PMRR)-Prevention Mitigation Response Recovery. We all know that prevention is better than cure hence the PPRR approach”
Bram Simiyu.
He noted that whenever a disaster strikes, the community is always in panic mode and to avert further injury, his department has elected to work closely with the community. Through this engagement, the disaster team has managed to have first responders in most of our informal settlements who are key in rescue and creating fire breaks.
Working with community Champions.
Simiyu has also acknowledged the immense contribution by community Champions who help in mitigating the risks whenever a disaster strikes.
“By working with community Champions like Robert Idewa and others, we have managed to limit the number of casualties and the scope of damage to property whenever there is fire outbreaks. Our department has gone full throttle in engaging students in schools within Nairobi and recruiting more champions and training them on what they need to do in the event of disasters and this training is not limited to fires alone but extends to floods, accidents and collapsed buildings. This training have been cascaded upto the Ward levels in all the 85 Wards of Nairobi”
the officer noted
.When asked if his department has a strategic plan and policy paper , Simiyu responded.
“Yes we have a Legal and regulatory framework which defines the structure,how it works, coordination and control protocols and disaster financing which clearly states how we are financed. Without proper coordination and control protocols, disaster Risk reduction and management will be an exercise in futility”
The officer also added that a bill is already in the Nairobi county assembly on disaster management which will sort out all the legal hurdles to enable Nairobi tackle disasters effectively.Disaster prevention, mitigation,response and recovery are core areas of disaster management.
Mr Simiyu louded the county boss Gov Sakaja for his efforts in ensuring the disaster management team is well equipped by both tools of trade and the requisite knowledge by undergoing extensive training.
“.
The disaster chief also encouraged Nairobians to always interact with county officers directly by calling the toll free numbers to report any disaster.
Simiyu decried the amount of time city dwellers take to report fire infernos which force his team to be seen as having arrived late. The locals prefer calling the local leaders who later call his team which eats on time.
The toll free numbers are
1508… Nairobi county toll free.
But if you want to report a fire outbreak you can directly call these numbers below.2222181/2222182/2222163/234499.All these are landline number they start with 020.
