Majority of Sabah firemen on duty during Hari Raya
Published on: Friday, June 23, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The majority of almost 1,000 firefighters and officers in fire and rescue stations throughout Sabah will be on duty round the clock during the forthcoming Hari Raya Aidil Fitri holidays.Sabah Fire and Rescue Department Assistant Director (Fire Safety Division) Jemros Olin said only about 20 per cent of its personnel and officers in the State have been allowed to go on leave for the celebration.However, he said even they are required to be on standby as they can be recalled at any time when necessary.
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"Incidents of fire destroying houses often happen during festive seasons compared to normal days. Hence, the department has prepared sufficient manpower to be on duty during those festive days."Officers and personnel who work on shifts round the clock to attend to any kind of untoward incidents involving fire and rescue works such as road accidents and drowning cases," he said.Jemros said this in a press conference on the launching of the fire safety awareness campaign at the headquarters of the department at Lintas here on Thursday.
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He said the department has instructed all fire and rescue stations at State, district and zone level to implement measures by conducting inspections and removing all potential fire hazards in trading and business premises as well as shops to ensure their emergency exits are free from any obstacles.Apart from that, he said focus would be given to checking safety at premises such as making sure fire exit stairways and fire hazard doors are available.
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Jemros said the department would issue notices or fine any premises found violating existing provisions in the regulations."Fire and rescue services stations will also continue monitoring certain routes that are prone to accidents during the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebration."They will be monitoring three road stretches and routes namely along Kota Kinabalu – Beaufort, Ranau – Sandakan, and from the Sandakan checkpoint up to Tawau," he said.Based on the department's latest statistics on fire cases involving houses during the Hari Raya season, Jemros said there has been a declining trend from 2014 until 2016 with 22 fire incidents recorded in 2016 compared to 39 incidents throughout the season in 2015 and 58 incidents in 2015.He said this showed that public awareness has improved as a result of awareness programmes on fire safety being organised for the people.Analysis on the 2016 statistics during the Raya season, he said also showed that more than half (55 per cent) of the incidents involved houses and happened during working hours between 8am and 5pm while 36 per cent between 6pm and 12 midnight and nine per cent between 1am and 7am.Jemros said the department's record on those three years also showed that most fire incidents or 67 per cent of the cases involved the destruction of village houses in rural areas while 32 per cent involved terrace houses in Sabah."Our investigation revealed that a high percentage of fire that gutted houses during the festive season in those three years was caused by electricity.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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