Sharjah: Fire accidents drop by 75%, Civil Defence response time reduced to 4.86 minutes in 2021

Sharjah: Awareness campaigns by Sharjah authorities have helped reduce fire incidents in the emirate drastically. While 74 incidents were recorded in 2021, 130 were recorded in 2020, as compared to 299 in 2019, thereby marking a 75 per cent decline in such incidents. According to Sharjah Civil Defence, it recorded zero deaths in the emirate last year due to fire.

Sharjah Civil Defence also got two innovative products registered under intellectual property rights — Training with VR (virtual reality) and a Thermal Suit with sensor. This is the only administration at the emirate-level in UAE to have achieved this.

Deploying state-of-the-art technologies

Colonel Sami Khamis Al Naqbi, Director General of Sharjah Civil Defence, attributed the success to the efforts of the Civil Defence department, who took all necessary measures, mobilised the required resources and deployed state-of-the-art technologies to ensure rapid emergency response through qualified firefighting cadres, concerted action and teamwork to help achieve the goals of the General Command of Civil Defence.

Col Al Naqbi noted that Civil Defence followed best practices, in line with global standards, including deploying latest technology to ensure the best possible levels of control, security and alarm systems.

Quick response

According to the authorities, Sharjah Civil Defence has responded to emergencies in a shorter time span than what standard protocol demands. The department is currently working hard to achieve the fastest possible response time to reports of fire by increasing the number of fire stations in the emirate’s vital areas. The response time in 2019 was 5.4 minutes. In 2020, it dropped to 5.1 minutes, and in 2021, it was 4.86 minutes. Sharjah Civil Defence have set a target to achieve a response time of four minutes during 2022.

Locating a fire

Currently, there are 13 Civil Defence stations in the emirate, including four points (smaller operating units). Four new stations entered the service in 2021. These new stations are in Kalba, Al Dhaid, Maleiha and in Sharjah Industrial Area. One more fire station will be opened in the Al Raqeeba area this year.

“Fire spreads quickly, so it calls for a quick response. The department has also linked all commercial and industrial establishments in the emirate to the Civil Defence Operations Room to alert firefighters and pinpoint the location of a fire for faster response,” said Col Al Naqbi.

Tough inspections

As many as 559 establishments were fined in the emirate and another 1,324 establishments were issued warnings by fire-safety inspectors. Establishments that have been issued warnings need to approach the service centres at Civil Defence offices and prove that the issues on their premises have been rectified. Civil Defence are currently coordinating with the authorities concerned, including Sharjah Municipality, Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority, Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD) and Sharjah Survey and Planning Department for this purpose.

Col Al Naqbi said most of the recent fires were caused by faulty electrical appliances and overloading of power supply [which causes short circuits in transformer cables], negligence, improper power connections and damaged electrical cables.

Fire prevention by increasing awareness campaigns

In 2021, Sharjah Civil Defence had carried out major awareness campaigns on the field as well as online since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to educate residents, business owners, workers and employees about the importance of implementing fire-safety procedures. Col Al Naqbi also pointed out the importance of spreading the culture of fire prevention by increasing awareness campaigns and programmes involving community members and media outlets, including social media.

Civil Defence have also installed around 8,000 devices in houses and residential buildings to detect smoke and a similar number of devices in commercial and industrial establishments.

Steps taken by Sharjah Civil Defence towards ensuring better fire safety:

— Providing digital and smart services for fire safety and working remotely round the clock.

— Modernisation of the Civil Defence fleet by the addition of 13 new fire engines.

— Increasing the number of fire and rescue teams by recruiting 172 additional firefighters.

— Opening of two new fire stations at Al Dhaid and Kalba, two Civil Defence points at Al Thamid and Sharjah Expo Center.

— Plan to open a new fire station in Al Raqeeb this year.

— The department got two innovative products registered under intellectual property rights — Training with VR (virtual reality) and a Thermal Suit with sensor. Sharjah Civil Defence is the only administration at the emirate-level in UAE to have achieved this.