Ajman increases firefighter presence in industrial zones

AJMAN // Firefighters are being stationed in industrial areas to cut down on response times when a blaze occurs.

Civil defence in the emirate hopes the move, coupled with training factory workers in how to tackle fires, can help avoid large-scale incidents.

A number of centres have been set up in different areas, said Brig Gen Saleh Al Matrooshi, a director at Ajman Civil Defence.

“To fight the incident when it is small and to reduce the losses, we established several centres, such as in Al Jurf industrial area, Ajman industrial area and in Al Rumailah, the residential area. Al Manama has a centre and we will establish one in Masfout,” he said.

“The availability of civil defence near factories and residential buildings eases the arrival of crew as quickly as possible to the incident scene.”

Another strand to the approach has been training workers in factories in what to do when a fire erupts.

For the past three years, civil defence has been training labourers in each organisation and building, Brig Gen Al Matrooshi said, adding that they have also tied renewal of trade licences to meeting safety standards.

“All factories should have safety and prevention standards, such as having a fire extinguisher, alarm, exit doors, sprinkler and hosepipe. They should be prepared based on international standards and UAE code,” the director said.

“And [we are] training the labourers at warehouses and factories to be the initial civil defence line.”

After three years of mandatory training in factories, more than 80 per cent of labourers working there have an awareness of dealing with blazes.

“We teach them how to use the fire extinguishing equipment and oxygen pipe, evacuate the place and remove the stored items. The crew of 10 to 15 firefighters [in turn] need the help of workers who know [the layout of the factory],” Brig Gen Al Matrooshi said.

“Many fire incidents have affected factories and organisations but because the labourers extinguished the fire by themselves, we just arrive to record the incident, and this is what we hope to have in houses also.”

Since last year, the fire training has extended to residential buildings, where housewives and maids have been shown how to at least use a fire extinguisher.

“We are completing the next stage in covering the whole emirate, where all community members become trained and know fire safety,” added Brig Gen Al Matrooshi.