The Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency (SFRSA) attended to 327 emergency calls for fire and other emergency assistance in 2022 compared to 314 calls for such assistance in 2021.

The statement was made by assistant divisional officer, Terrence Arnephy, the SRFSA public relations officer, in a press conference held yesterday morning at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Independence House Annex.

Mr Arnephy remarked that on the whole the agency received 311 normal calls for assistance on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue in 2022, which was lower compared to 2021, and the increase in calls for assistance which amounted to 327 was purely related to fire incident at the landfill at Providence. 

With regard to building and domestic fires, the agency attended to 17 cases in 2022 among which seven infrastructure were completely destroyed by fire. In 2021 there were 40 cases.

He said that the major incidents they attended to last year were the ammonia leak incident onboard a foreign fishing vessel, the landfill fire at Providence, the bush fire at Point Au Sel, Au Cap, and fire onboard seven fishing vessels at Providence Fishing Port.

It is to be noted that two foreign crew members lost their lives as a result of the ammonia leak on board the fishing vessel in June last year while the landfill fire was put out after nine days of intense battle from September 27 to October 5, 2022.

As for the bush fire at Point Au Sel, Au Cap, it was reported at around 8.40am on November 1 before being put out completely at 5.30pm the same day while on the other hand, the seven artisanal fishing boats were completely destroyed by fire on December 5. They were among 40 fishing vessels that were berthed along the fishing port quay at Providence. The fire started in one of the vessels before spreading rapidly to the others close by.

Mr Arnephy said that SFRSA has received four new fire tenders, two of which will be stationed at the new Anse Royale fire service station which will be fully operational in two weeks’ time. The other two will remain at the Victoria fire service station.

He added that SFRSA will receive two additional fire tenders in the near future to boost the fire tending fleet.

The SFRSA’s public relations officer stated that as a result of the infrastructure being not conducive enough for a good working environment, the Anse Boileau fire service station will soon be closed down and the staff will be transferred to the new fire station at Anse Royale.

He added that SFRSA is also working with other partners to put in place infrastructure to combat fire at the landfill. 

Mr Arnephy stated that while fire is a dangerous tool, it should be handled and used in the proper way. He called on the general public to observe the fire restrictions during the dry season and to seek the necessary permission if they want to light an outdoor fire.

He noted that the public should also be well prepared to combat the fire in case it went out of control. He thanked the partners who have helped and assisted SFRSA in emergency incidents in 2022.

The other calls attended to in 2022 were vehicle fires (21) (19 in 2021); ship and boat fires (9) (3 in 2021); bush fires (48) (95 in 2021); bin fires (19); electrical fires (8) (10 in 2021); other emergency incidents (36) (87 in 2021); hazardous materials (3) (11 in 2021); road traffic accident (20) (28 in 2021); other assistance (21) (18 in 2021); search and rescue (23); humanitarian calls (85) and investigations (7). There were three false alarms in 2021 compared to none in 2022. There were no statistics for search and rescue, humanitarian calls and investigations for 2021 given that they form part of a new component introduced as of 2022.