{A team of six police officers has started a week-long inspection of fire fighting readiness in public facilities within Karongi district.
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The aim of the inspection according to the District Community Liaison Officer, Inspector of Police (IP) Jean Baptiste Rutebuka, was to know the status of these facilities, if they have fire extinguishers and other required firefighting kits.
He went on to add that identifying the status also helps the police to identify focus areas when it comes to public sensitizations against fire outbreaks.
“In the last three days, we visited 42 facilities including schools, hotels, markets, petrol station, shops and financial institutions. We have since discovered that most of these facilities either didn’t have fire extinguishers or hadn’t been refilled in a while,” said IP Rutebuka who led the six-man inspection team.
“Wherever we find a problem we advise them to fix it by either acquiring new equipment of refilling the fire extinguishers in not less than two weeks. After two weeks we will go back to train them on how to use them,” he said.
IP Rutebuka added that, “this is in the spirit of prevention…we don’t want to start teaching people how to put out fire when they have already lost property or lives . We also want the public to comply with firefighting regulations and provide quick reports in case of fire outbreak for quick response.”
Statistics from the RNP Fire and Rescue Brigade indicate that about 100 fire outbreaks occurred throughout the country in 2015, claiming at least six lives and injuring five others.
Major of fire incidents resulted from careless usage of flammable substances, faulty wiring and reckless use of electrical appliances that are likely to happen in public places.
“When fire breaks out, not only the house affected and owner or occupants are at risk but also surrounding communities. That is why it is strongly advisable to have fire extinguisher especially in public facilities and also alert police because we have the expertise and equipment to extinguish such fires before they can cause mass damage and likely loss of lives,” IP Rutebuka said.
Part of what Rutebuka advised management of public facilities it to never forget to turn off and unplug all electrical appliances after use, as well as, keep matchsticks and other inflammables out of reach of children.
“Avoid fixing electrical faults personally when you do not have the skill. Violating the basic rule of aligning like charges can lead to a spark which may result into fire. Always call professional electricians to fix faults,” he said.
In a bid to promote police-public partnership in overcoming fire outbreaks, RNP has toll free lines 111, 112 and 0788311120 for anyone to call in case of fire break out.
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