As part of the Rwanda National Police firefighting, prevention and response strategies , officers, yesterday equipped the medical staff and employees of Mugonero hospital in Karongi District with skills on how to use different gadgets to put out fire.
About 60 people including medical practitioners, support staff and security personnel benefited from the half-day demonstration training organised and conducted by the District Police Unit (DPU) of Karongi.
The RNP’s fire and rescue brigade has embarked on training and sensitizing the public, employees in different institutions on fire prevention and response, with hospitals, schools, markets and other big facilities being among the targeted groups.
Like in other parts of the country, the medics in Karongi were explained on the causes of fire and how to use gadgets like fire extinguishers, sand and water to put out a fire.
Inspector of Police (IP) Jean Baptiste Rutebuka, District Community Liaison Officer of Karongi urged the trainees to always be quick to call Police for timely intervention.
“You can only intervene when the fire has not escalated, but even then, you have to call police on 111 or 0788311120 for intervention to prevent much losses,” IP Rutebuka said.
“In most cases, fire outbreaks in buildings are caused by short circuits resulting from old or substandard installations and overloaded electric appliances, so always check such installations and switch off all electronics whenever you are away, not only here at the hospital but even in your homes,” said IP Rutebuka
He urged the trainees to always take the initiative to show people how they can contain the fire with available equipment before it could spread.
“After reporting to Police, you should ask people to evacuate the building immediately. Acting responsibly by taking precautions and strong partnership through timely information sharing can prevent fire outbreaks from taking lives and destroying property,” IP Rutebuka said.
Faulty home appliances, unattended candles and littered lit cigarrates and burning of waste in gardens are other causes of fire outbreak, he said.
Other contacts in case fire breaks out, for immediate response include 112, 0788311224, 0788311657 and 0788311335.
The hospital administrator, Faustin Niyonzima thanked police for the knowledge they equipped the staff with and pledged to share the information with other employees.
About 150 cases of fire outbreak were recorded last year majority caused by careless use of flammable substances, faulty wiring and reckless use of electrical appliances, children playing with matches and candles, and use of cheap and defective electrical equipment.
Police has a fully fledged Fire and Rescue Brigade, with standby firefighters and trucks in all provinces ready to be deployed whenever fire inccide is reported.
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