Police Fire Brigade yesterday launched the Disaster Reduction Week, taking the initiative to conduct demonstrations to educate the public on how to put out fire at Petit Stade in Remera, Kigali.

The Disaster Reduction Week was organised by the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness and Refugee Affairs under the theme, "Prevent risk, build resilience to fire.”

The demonstration was preceded by a peaceful march from Kacyiru to the stadium to raise awareness on how to prevent fire outbreaks.

Figures show that disasters claimed 76 lives between January and October, while 125 people were seriously injured.

Up to 1,725 houses and 1,183 hectares of plantations were also destroyed in different disasters during the same period, causing billions of francs in losses.

Fire outbreaks have so far been the most common disaster in recent past, with 326 fires registered across the country since 2011.

During the event, Police announced that it had procured a special fire extinguishing truck with capacity to salvage a fire outbreak up to the 20th floor of storey building.

The truck has a 55-metre ladder that can be raised to enable trapped people to climb down while the fire is put out. The ladder can withstand 600 kilogrammes.

At the event, different techniques of putting out fire were demonstrated, including the use of fire extinguishers, cooling by water that extinguishes fire by absorbing more heat than the fire is generating.

The cooling method, which is specifically used for closed or crowded areas like warehouses, has heat-absorbing properties.

Emmanuel Butera, commissioner of Police in charge of operations, said the best way to prevent damages is to equip oneself with useful materials to extinguish fire rather than relying on the firefighter intervention.

PM’s instructions

On July 11, the government promulgated Prime Minister’s instructions aimed at preventing fire outbreaks at public buildings, public spaces, national parks, in forests, as well as transport and storage facilities.

The guidelines requires using durable construction materials for buildings and equipping them with necessary firefighting equipment such as extinguishers, smoke detectors, fire exits, CCTV cameras and fire hydrant, especially for commercial structures.

Launching the awareness campaign, Seraphine Mukantabana, the minister for disaster preparedness and refugee affairs, said during the Week, officials will carry out risk assessment on all public buildings countrywide on their readiness incase of fire outbreaks.

Those who will be found to have flouted the instructions will not get occupation licence or they will have their buildings closed, the minister warned.

She called on the public to be involved in disaster prevention, saying disasters cannot be managed unless everybody takes part.

The minister also reminded people to use certified building materials and employ qualified technicians to avoid incidents of short circuits.

Mukantabana also urged the 7,567 families that currently live in high-risk disaster zones in various parts of the country to move to safer areas to avoid disasters, especially during the rainy season.

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