THE BULAWAYO Fire and Ambulance Services has managed to reduce the number of fire incidences in the city from January 2013 to September through an effective outreach campaign.
LINDA CHINOBVA OWN CORRESPONDENT
The campaign is aimed at educating Bulawayo residents about fire legislation, causes of fire and prevention of fire.
The Bulawayo Fire and Ambulance Services have also been reaching out to churches, old people’s homes, children’s homes, colleges and hospitals educating people on the causes, prevention and what to do in case of a fire outbreak.
Bulawayo chief fire officer Richard Peterson said: “The campaign is an ongoing programme aiming at alerting and empowering the Bulawayo community about the fire by-laws, how to prevent fire and the causes of fire.”
He added that as a result of the ongoing outreach campaign, there had been a reduction by 16,6% in fire accidents in the city this year.
Peterson said last year between January and September, the Fire Brigade attended to 326 fire accidents, but that number dropped to 272 between January and September this year.
Of the 272 fire accidents in the nine months to September, 114 were house fire accidents, 79 were grass fire accidents, 50 were rubbish fire accidents and 29 were motor vehicle fire accidents.
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Peterson said they would also embark on roadshows as part of their campaign to equip residents with emergency plans on how to curtail and manage fire accidents.
Peterson revealed that council wants to open two more fire stations in Bulawayo to enable them reduce the response time.
There are just two fire stations servicing the entire city, the main one in Famona and the other one in Northend.
“The new stations will enhance service efficiency of the fire brigade which is one of our priorities as the brigade,” he added.
