Awareness created on fire safety

CHENNAI: With the mushrooming of highrise buildings in the city, the number of fire outbreaks is witnessing a sharp increase according to fire department. In a bid to control such accidents, the fire department is creating awareness primarily among school children on fire safety mechanisms with the help of NGOs.SSI development society, an NGO working on creating awareness on health and safety issues, on Wednesday organised a field trip for students of Leo Matriculation school to the Tamil Nadu fire and rescue station in Ambattur Industrial Estate.The divisional fire officer, M Namasivayam explained the fire rescue and fighting measures to the children by demonstrating various methods and techniques adopted by the fire department.“We attend 20,000 rescue calls in Tamil Nadu annually and the numbers are rising in the city with an increase in high rise buildings,” Namasivayam said. “The focus should first be on fire prevention and as students you should make it a point that your parents are aware about measures to prevent a fire,” he said.Namasivayam also stressed on the various techniques to be adopted at various incidents of fire. “When it's an electrical fire, remember to use sand and not water as an extinguisher. Blanketing, cooling and starving are the various measures which need to be used, based on the type of the fire.”