Stakeholders’ role in disaster-risk-reduction of fire occurrences in Lagos Metropolis

Abstract

Purpose Recently, frequent occurrence of fire incidences in various building types with devastating effects on human settlements have proliferated and have become of serious concern to Nigeria’s economy. Hence, there is a need to proactively address strategic weaknesses in measures directed at protecting the built environment (BE). The purpose of this paper is to examine stakeholders’ role in the frameworks on disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the context of fire hazards within Lagos metropolis. Analysis is based on findings of research carried out on vulnerability, resilience assessment and guiding principles from three recent frameworks. Design/methodology/approach Mixed research design was adopted using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. In all, 165 BE professionals in the construction industry, state/federal emergency management and local/national government agencies were randomly selected. Findings Findings show that stakeholders believe prevention, preparedness and mitigation of disasters are the most important; however, BE professionals in the construction industry do not play active roles in the mitigation of fire risk despite wide publications on guidance for fire hazard mitigation. These stakeholders urgently need to adopt fire hazard mitigation strategies, especially in the pre-construction phase of a building’s life cycle which is identified as the most critical stage in the construction phase. Research limitations/implications The paper looked at fire occurrence in Lagos from the perspective of the BE with the view to fill knowledge gaps for adopting fire hazard mitigation strategies. Originality/value The findings brought to bear the need for stakeholders, especially BE professionals in the construction industry, to be better involved in DRR as regards fire occurrences.