Fire Service Rescues 2,106 People And Protects ₦934.7 Billion Worth Of Property In 2025

The Federal Fire Service (FFS) has announced that it rescued 2,106 lives and protected property valued at ₦934.7 billion from various fire incidents across Nigeria in 2025.

The statistics were disclosed by Ijeoma Achi-Okidi, the FFS Deputy Controller-General in charge of Policy, Planning, Research, and Statistics, during a briefing in Abuja on Thursday.

According to the report, the FFS responded to 1,866 fire incidents last year, which resulted in 114 fatalities, injuries to 198 civilians, and five firefighters. The total estimated property loss amounted to approximately ₦74.75 billion, indicating that the service successfully safeguarded about 92.59 percent of assets at risk. The overall fatality rate stood at 61.09 deaths per 1,000 fire incidents, underscoring the significant human toll despite effective property protection.

A breakdown of fire outbreaks by type of premises showed that private residences experienced the highest number of fires at 693, followed by public buildings and government offices with 444 incidents. Markets and trading centres recorded 190 fires, vehicles/automobiles 177, while other types of premises accounted for 105 incidents.

The report highlighted that market fires were the deadliest, claiming 39 lives, followed by automobile fires with 22 deaths, public/government office fires with 18, banks with 10, and other premises with 10 fatalities. Market fires accounted for over a third of all fire-related deaths, a situation attributed to high occupancy and rapid fire spread in crowded trading areas.

Financial losses were also significant, with market fires causing ₦22.27 billion in damage, private residences ₦14.67 billion, public/government buildings ₦11 billion, educational institutions ₦8.16 billion, and fuel or gas stations ₦4.92 billion.

The report further identified electrical issues—including power surges, overloads, and wiring faults—as the leading causes of fire, responsible for nearly 70 percent of all incidents in 2025. Although gas explosion fires were less frequent, they recorded the highest fatality rate per incident.