The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development through the Department of Humanitarian Affairs has held its annual In-house fire awareness/prevention training evacuation drill at the Federal Secretariat Complex, phase 1 Abuja.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, the Deputy Director Disaster Management Dr. Abubakar Suleiman, stated that the training was centered around learning about fire hazards/fire equipment and how to mitigate fire in our homes and offices.
Farouq said that the demonstration on how to use various fire equipment will remind the participants how to handle and be conversant with the equipment, how it works and what is expected of them in emergency situations in order to mitigate hazards/disasters.
The instructor from the Federal Fire Service, DSF Amosa Alade Matthew, stated that fire is produced when a substance combines with oxygen in the presence of heat, explaining that the three (3) ingredients that makeup fire are fuel, heat and oxygen and opined that disaster, fire incident occurs as a result of man’s action and inaction and that the first priority in case of any disaster is to save lives before any other consideration.
Speaking further, Amosa reminded the participants that 60 percent of fire outbreaks in the offices are due to Air Conditioners which in most cases stems from overuse and advised that electrical appliances should be switched off when leaving the house or office in case of power surge. He also enjoined participants to patronize electrical experts if there is problem with appliances.
He outlined the steps to handle fire outbreaks in emergency situations including: Raising an alarm, Evacuate from the environment/building, Call the fire service and if it is safe then start fighting the fire. He gave the fire service numbers 122, 112.
The training ended up with practical demonstrations of the various fire evacuation drill and how to use various fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire to the participants by officers of the Federal Fire Service.
