As part of the Rwanda National Police firefighting, prevention and response programme, officers, yesterday equipped employees of Mugonero hospital in Karongi District with skills on how to use various firefighting equipment.

About 60 people including medical practitioners, support staff and security personnel benefited from the half-day 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 various institutions on fire prevention and response, with hospitals, schools, markets and other major facilities being among the targeted groups.

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. 

Other contacts in case fire breaks out, for immediate response include 112, 0788-311-224, 0788-311-657 and 0788-311-335.

"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,” advised Rutebuka.

Faulty home appliances, unattended candles and littered lit cigarrates and burning of waste in gardens are other causes of fire outbreak, he said.

He urged the trainees to always take the initiative to show people how they can contain fire with available equipment before it spreads.

The hospital administrator, Faustin Niyonzima thanked the police and pledged to share the information with other employees.

About 150 cases of fire outbreaks were recorded last year, most of which were 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. 

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