Fire outbreak in market places is a recurring issue in Nigeria, and it is a leading causes of lives and properties loss in Nigerian markets. In order to curtail this problem, an evaluation of active fire protection measures in Garki model market of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria was conducted with the aim of generating guidelines that can reduce the spread of fire outbreaks in Nigerian markets. There are 1,430 sales points in Garki model market. Systematic sampling method was adopted for this study and it was applied at every 5th interval of sales points, in order to get the sample size; as a result of this, 287 sales points were selected. The primary research data were questionnaires administered to the sales people, and the direct observations of the current conditions of the market; likewise, 20 different focus group discussions were organised for the selected sales people. Also, interview questions were administered to the managing company of the market. Among the results are: fire protection devices in the market are not adequate; all the fire hose reels in the market are not in good condition; most of the sales people in the market do not know how to operate firefighting equipment because they do not respond to calls for training on how to use them. Among the recommended guidelines are: the adequacy and functionality of fire protection devices should be ensured by the government of Nigeria and the management authorities of markets in Nigeria; training for the sales people should be enforced by the management authorities of markets in Nigeria, in order to ensure that the sales people know how to operate firefighting equipment.
Keywords: Fire, Guidelines, Nigeria, Protection, markets
