UAE | General
Fire awareness programme gives Abu Dhabi housewives indispensable lessons
Many women were unaware of safety precautions they must take to prevent accidents.
- By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:28 April 18, 2008
- Corporal Abdul Aziz demonstrates how to use a fire extinguisher to a group of housewives.
- Image Credit: Binsal Abdul Kader/Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: A housewife said she will never touch the electrical switches or appliances, in the event of a cooking gas leak, thanks to an awareness programme by Abu Dhabi Civil Defence.
Balkies, an Indian housewife said she never knew that it was dangerous to switch on the electric bulb during a gas leak.
"If you switchany electrical equipment on or off, it may spark and the leaked gas will catch fire," said Corporal Ahmad Abdul Aziz of the General Directorate of Civil Defence.
He was conducting basic lessons in fighting a fire at the Civil Defence office to a group of housewives from an Indian community organisation in Abu Dhabi.
If you detect the odour of a gas leak, open the windows at once and the gas will go out with natural ventilation, said the corporal. "If you have to fix any electrical appliances in the flat, call the watchman and ask him to disconnect the power to the flat from the electrical room outside the flat."
Captain Yasser Eisa Al Qotairi, Head of Public Relation and Morale Guidance at the General Directorate of Civil Defence told Gulf News that careless housewives and mischievous children cause a large number of fires.
"We conduct such civilian training for women and schoolchildren. We show films and cartoons on fire safety to children," he said.
The trainer advised the women to change the gas pipes if they find a small scratch on them. "Try to change the gas pipes periodically. Never ever keep very old cooking gas cylinders.
"Although centralised cooking gas systems in buildings are safer, you have to take precautions if you detect a gas leak because automatic gas detectors which close off the gas flow in 30 seconds may fail sometimes," he said.
"We had a misconception that momentary exposure to the gas in fire extinguishers may harm our skin and body," said the participants from the women's wing of the Indian Islahi Centre in Abu Dhabi.
"Our impression was to use the extinguisher on top of the fire; but now we know we have to move the extinguisher from side to side while aiming at the base of the fire from a safe distance," said Suhara and Shireena.
The trainer warned them that if the extinguisher is aimed at the top of the fire, their faces and clothes may be burned.
"You have to check the extinguisher periodically to confirm that it is active and not dried out," he pointed out. Some buildings keep very old fire extinguishers which may be of no use."
Participants
One participant said she will not pour water on an oil fire in the kitchen after she learnt that it would make the fire spread.
Some participants shared their experiences at the programme. "My cousin used to keep cleaning clothes ... within cooking range and they caught fire," said Naseema.
Participant Simi Nasser said apart from firefighting, she noted the tips on general safety measures.
safety tips
steps to take
- Never touch the electrical switches or appliances; they may spark and the leaked gas will catch fire. Open the windows at once.
- Never pour water on an oil fire in the kitchen, it will make the fire spread. Use an extinguisher.
How to use an extinguisher
- The typical steps in operating a stored pressure fire extinguisher (described by the acronym "PASS") are the following:
P - Pull the safety pin and test
A - Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire, from a safe distance (about 1 to 3 metres (4 to 10 feet) away)
S - Squeeze the handle
S - Sweep the extinguisher from side to side while aiming at the base of the fire
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