Dubai residents advised to take fire safety precautions

The Dubai Civil Defence has put out a fire which erupted in a warehouse in Al Qusais Industrial area on Friday night, just seven hours after they put out a fire in a residential building in Bur Dubai. However, no one was injured in the fire. Forensic experts were examining the fire scene to gauge its cause.
With the two incidents on Thursday, five fires have happened since the beginning of this month in Dubai, two of them in residential buildings.
In the wake of the recent incidents, the Dubai Civil Defence will coordinate with competent authorities to enact a law that obliges the owners of private homes to taking safety measures to help prevent home accidents, according to Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director General of the Dubai Civil Defence.
The control room of Dubai Civil Defence got calls around 11pm that a fire had broken out in a warehouse containing wood and tyres in Al Nahda area in Dubai, near Zulekha Hospital. The fire brigades from Qusais and Rashidiya stations rushed to the site and started battling the flames which had caused a thick black plume of smoke - that could be seen for kilometres around - to prevent it from spreading to the neighbouring warehouses. After getting the fire under control, they started the cooling operation.
Al Matroushi said that in the last few weeks, the tragic deaths of 20-year-old twins and a 5-year-old girl in separate fire incidents had prompted the Dubai Civil Defence to launch the awareness campaign to enhance safety in the houses and promote measures to follow in the event of fire, starting with the use of fire extinguishers.
Household accidents can be disastrous but also easily avoidable with a few easy preventive measures, he noted. Family members, especially young children and older or disabled members may be exposed to many hazards or accidents, with serious effects.
He added that each fire incident is examined separately to determine its causes and prevent a recurrence. In a fire at Al Twar area, for example, the official noted that the fire annex did not include security and safety standards, and iron barriers on the windows prevented the occupants from escaping.
Fire safety only solution
Some fires are caused by electrical circuits or misuse of electrical connections or unskilled workers doing repairs and faulty electrical wiring. In addition, lack of periodic maintenance of electrical connections and equipment worsens the scenario.
The fire safety awareness campaign will cover all residential areas in Dubai in different stages, and will include housewives and maids, who work in kitchens, as the first responder in the event of a fire, with emphasis on controlling the flames right at the beginning, until the arrival of firefighting teams. The current common response observed is that they try to flee the place out of fear, without trying to fight the fire, which causes it to spread and wreak serious damage.
Mohammed pointed out that children, beginning from age 3 or 4, should be taught about the risk of playing with flammable materials, and to move away from the site of fire if it erupts, and not to hide under or behind the furniture as they tend to do.
He warned that there is a "poor culture" in dealing with fires among most nationalities who live in the UAE, and certain actions or cooking habits in the kitchen - such as accumulation of oil in stoves and electrical appliances, leaving the leftover oil after use near a source of fire, or out in the heat - that could lead to catastrophic fires.
- amira@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Dubai