‘Having fire extinguishers at home can prevent total loss’
KUCHING: Having fire extinguishers on hand and knowing how to use them properly can save homes from being razed to the ground in the event of a fire outbreak.
Fire and Rescue Department ( Bomba) state director Nor Hisham Mohammad said it was important for the public to equip their homes with one and learn how to use it.
“We focus on the usage of fire extinguishers by the dwellers. Last year we had 30 cases where the fire was put out using fire extinguishers and this year, 46 cases were recorded.
“The increase of 16 cases may not sound much but it shows that our efforts to encourage dwellers to have fire extinguishers on hand have paid off,” he said at the Bomba monthly gathering at its Tabuan Jaya headquarters here yesterday.
Of the cases this year, Nor Hisham said two involved longhouses in Miri and Sungai Babi in Baram.
“By using the fire extinguishers, 17 homes were saved from being destroyed by fire at Sungai Babi. Twenty fire extinguishers were used to put out the fire, and we give credit to the residents for not giving up trying to put out the fire even though the flames were big,” he said.
On the issue of fire hydrants,
We focus on the usage of fire extinguishers by the dwellers. Last year we had 30 cases where the fire was put out using fire extinguishers and this year, 46 cases were recorded.
he said a total of 6,766 were vandalised throughout the state in 2016, with 4,691 found to have been damaged up to June this year.
The state Bomba director said although some of the damaged hydrants were still able to function, others could no longer be used due to the damage caused by vandals trying to get copper components from the hydrants.
“I hope this vandalism will stop because it is not only costly and causes losses to the government, but also hinders Bomba when we need a functioning hydrant to put out fires.”
“It’s not worth it ( to damage the fire hydrant) because scrap copper is only RM4 per kilogramme.”
Yesterday’s event also witnessed a handing-over- ofduties between retiring Bomba state deputy director Mohd Ali Bahudin and Tiong Ling Hii, who is now acting state deputy director.
Nor Hisham Mohammad, Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) state director