NFA Attended To 150 Property Fires 2017
The National Fire Authority (NFA) is calling for the support of the members of the community to reduce property fires in 2018.
Last year, NFA attended 150 property fires.
Of the total number of 330 property fire calls attended to last year by the NFA around the country, there were 150 property fires of which 132 were home fires, 17 commercial fires and one industrial fire incident.
Forty-six property fires were electrical-related while 18 were because of unattended cooking and 10 were caused by children playing with matches.
In comparing the 2017 fire statistics with the last three years, there were a total of 147 property fires in 2016, 127 in 2015 and 143 in 2014. The NFA seeks public support to reduce property fires and make communities a fire safe place to live in.
They are urging home owners and tenants to take fire safety seriously at home.
They are reminding that electrical appliances and wirings in the homes need to be checked and used with care, ensuring that all appliances are turned off and unplugged after use. Flammable materials need to be kept out of the house and gas cylinders need also to be kept away from heat sources. Hazardous materials should be kept away from children and children should be taught the dangers of playing with fire.
Great caution should be observed when lighting candles and mosquito coils and these should never be left alight when no one is present in the room. Cooks are reminded to stay in the kitchen until their cooking is done and the stove is turned off. Apart from the fire calls, NFA attended a total of 1351 ambulance calls, 63 flood and swift water rescue and hazardous material response calls.
They conducted 1093 fire safety awareness programmes with included school fire safety awareness programmes. They also conducted community fire safety awareness programmes visiting communities and talking to villages and members of the community on fire safety
and provided house-to-house fire safety awareness programmes where the NFA officers met with the home owners and families and talked about fire safety around the country.
Role of the media
The NFA firmly believes that the media can play a critical role in the prevention of fires using their respective communication mediums to effectively reach out to every part of the Fiji community. Media partnership would assist in the promotion of fire safety awareness and preventative messages regularly and effectively to reduce home fires.