Effect of Socioeconomic Characteristics of Residential Building Occupants on Level of Fire Disaster Preparedness

Abstract

Socioeconomic characteristics are known to influence fire disaster preparedness (FDP). The spate of fire outbreaks in buildings in Nigeria is worrisome with its deleterious effects, however, these can be averted by studying how socioeconomic characteristics influences FDP in buildings. The study assessed the level of FDP in Parakin, Ile-Ife. The objective was to investigate the effect of socioeconomic characteristics on the level of FDP by using fire safety awareness (FSA) and evacuation in residential buildings in Parakin, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Quantitative data was collected via questionnaire survey. Primary data was obtained using purposive sampling method. 80 buildings were purposively selected for this study and the self-administered questionnaire were given to 80 participants from the buildings. Frequency distribution, percentage and chi square were used to analyse the data. Chi square showed a relationship between the sex of respondents and the evacuation attributes, while age, home ownership and level of education of respondents are not associated with evacuation attributes. Chi square also revealed that sex, age, home ownership and level of education of respondents have no relationship with awareness. The study concluded that firefighting equipment and facilities are mostly unavailable in the study area while the level of awareness is fairly moderate, FDP is very low, evacuation attributes of the buildings are fair while training for occupants is very low. Concerted efforts should be made to raise awareness, train building users to combat fire outbreaks and get necessary gadgets needed for firefighting in buildings.