Fire safety: Volunteers to man malls, schools and hotels too in Prayagraj
Prayagraj begins deploying 1,000 fire safety volunteers in urban areas, trained to prevent and combat fire incidents, following success in rural regions.
After the successful role played by Agni Suraksha Mitras or fire safety volunteers in preventing and fighting incidents of fire outbreaks in rural areas, the process to deploy 1000 “agni suraksha mitras” in urban areas of Prayagraj too has begun.
Around 1,000 such volunteers are getting training in identifying fire hazards, ways to prevent fire outbreaks, and action to be taken in case of a fire, so that they can be deployed in the Sangam city, district fire department officials said.
Confirming the move, chief fire officer (CFO) of Prayagraj, Rajiv Kumar Pandey, said that district fire officials have been asked to identify fire hotspots and sensitive places and buildings in the city and rural areas of the district.
“The department has also formed 10 teams which are conducting fire safety audits of buildings, malls, guest houses, hospitals etc. If lack of fire safety measures is found at these sites, notices are being issued to owners,” he said.
Around 1000 “agni suraksha mitras” will also be deployed in many of these places. Training of the volunteers is presently on, he added.
Fire department officials said that in summer, usually incidents of fire are the highest. Most of these incidents occur in rural areas.
On the instructions of the state government, “agni suraksha mitras” have been deployed in rural areas of Prayagraj to reduce such incidents. These volunteers are working as a bridge between the fire department and the public by making people aware of the measures to prevent fire in rural areas and aiding in fighting such incidents by helping fire fighters, said the CFO.
2,300 fire safety volunteers active in rural areas
CFO of Prayagraj, Rajiv Kumar Pandey, said that “Agni Suraksha Mitras” have been deployed in all 23 development blocks in the rural areas of the district with 100 volunteers active in every development block who are now helping the fire department in controlling fire incidents in rural areas.
A WhatsApp group of 100 “agni suraksha mitras” has been created in each block, who are in regular contact with the fire department and help them reach the exact location also in case of fire outbreaks. These volunteers have also been given a three-day primary training on how to react in case of a fire. They have been trained to control the fire and start rescue operations till the fire brigade reaches the spot, shared Pandey.
People who have been selected as fire safety volunteers include block employees, Anganwadi workers, social activists, village heads, prominent persons, socially active youth and students, he said.
He said that 970 fire incidents have been registered from January to April this year in Prayagraj, out of which 800 were in rural areas. Last year, there were 1,783 total fire incidents in the district, of which 80% were in rural areas, he said.
