City fire woes

THE PNG Fire Services says it does not have the capacity to provide adequate service for an ever increasing Lae metropolitan growth.
Lae fire station commander Kena Bal said last Friday that he no longer had the resources to protect lives and property in Papua New Guinea’s second largest city.
“We have tried our best over the years to deliver as much as we can in terms of fire services to the people.
“My men have been at the helm of fire emergencies in the province.
“We have faced shortage of manpower and  vehicles that have been in operation for the past 20 years, yet we have strived to deliver our services to the stakeholders with whatever resources we have at our disposal,” Mr Bal said.
The Lae branch has 27 firefighters but this number has been reduced further due to staff going on recreation leave.
The fire department will be conducting community awareness on fire protection.
The awareness would   help promote fire safety in both urban and rural areas in the province and uphold the mission of the fire service in protecting and saving lives from fire occurrences.