Mumbai: In a bid to get quick response to fire incidents, the home guard department is going to train members of the housing societies. The department has taken cognisance of several fire incidents in the city. Commandant general of home guards and director of civil defence, Sanjay Pandey said that the department will train housing society members as well as security personnel.
Several high-rise residential buildings have mushroomed in the city and the chances of fire mishaps in those buildings can’t be ignored. 90 per cent of the fires break due to negligence, said an official of the home guards department. In addition to this, citizens are not trained to handle such situations which makes it worse. Meanwhile, the department will write a letter to major housing societies in south Mumbai.
Mr. Pandey said, “We will give one day training — on ways to douse fire — to citizens of the housing societies. The moment, fire breaks out, the persons of the society make a call to fire control room, however, by the time the Fire brigade reaches the spot, the fire spreads to other parts. People of the society don’t understand what to do during this period. We will teach them how to respond to the fire so that the causalities and damages will be reduced.”
In December 2017, 14 people were killed in Kamala Mills fire, while 12 person were killed in Farsan Workshop fire in Sakinaka. Earlier in this month, a fire broke out on the top floors of high-rise Beaumonde Towers in Worli. However, no casualties were reported.
