AJMAN// A lack of awareness, or interest, in fire safety at home and at work is putting residents lives at risk, Ajman Civil Defence chiefs have said.
Although the civil defence regularly runs awareness drives, the mix of different nationalities and different attitudes towards rules and regulations often means safety is low on people’s agenda, said Brigadier Saleh Saeed Al Matrooshi, general director of Civil Defence.
“This awareness is non-existant due to the presence of a mixture of many nationalities and communities, in addition to the proportion of labourers coming from poor countries and from poor social layers,” he added.
Even the most simple precautions such as having a fire extinguisher on hand at home or in the car is forgotten about or beyond the means of many people, he said.
“People must have knowledge and be aware of the importance of these devices in order to [save] their life, family and houses.”
There were 201 fires in the emirate from January to November this year at homes, restaurants and cafes as well as factories in industrial areas.
Brig Al Matrooshi said it is important for the public to take the initiative and learn how to react to a fire and how to make their homes and workplaces as safe as possible by ensuring fire fighting equipment is properly maintained and not just reply on the civil defence to react to a blaze. However, most people leave it too late and only learn after the event, he said.
“Residents start to know what to do in case of fires due to accidents that have happened with them or others because people learn from their damages.”
Mohammed Ali Al Suwaidi, manager of civil defence stations department, said that the availability of fire fighting equipment is important in every home, but the most essential thing is an alarm.
“Alarm bells alert people when there is a fire, especially while sleeping, and most fires that happen while the person is sleeping leads to suffocation and then death due to the smoke.”
Hassan Al Shaer’s villa was damaged by smoke from a fire sparked by a malfunction in an air conditioning unit. A faulty fire extinguisher and lack of knowledge about how to tackle the fire meant his home was damaged.
“When I came back from Fujairah my wife saw smoke coming out of the conditioner, so I disconnected the electricity,” said the 60-year-old retired Emirati who tired to put out the fire using an out of date extinguisher.
“I always have a fire extinguisher at my house, but I never knew that it had an expiry date and the one I tried to use had expired.”
Unsure what to do while he was waiting for civil defence to arrive, Mr Al Shaer opened all of the windows and doors in his home, which caused the smoke to spread throughout the villa.
“When I go out I always switch off lights and electricity, but the problem was not knowing how to react which led to polluting the house with smoke and I changed everything at house such as ceramics, furniture and paint,” he said.
A cigarette tossed from an upstairs neighbour’s flat caused a fire on Essam Ahmad’s balcony, destroying a blanket and damaging a glass door.
“When I saw the fire and smoke, my sister called the civil defence and I tried to extinguish the fire by water.”
The 38-year-old Egyptian accountant said although it was not a large fire, he has learned the damage throwing cigarettes from windows or balconies can do.
Staff at factories must enrol in training sessions to learn how to react if a fire occurs and the civil defence carries out inspections to make sure fire fighting equipment is available and maintained.
“The owner has the responsibility of the availability of all safety equipment at his factory as well as the maintenance and renewal of these devices every year,” said Brig Al Matrooshi. “But soon we will reach out to houses through a new law that we are working on.”
roueiti@thenational.ae
