People need more training on fire safety

Sharlien Tjambari

Teachers, learners and institutional workers from various schools in Swakopmund gathered at the Fire Brigade Department on Wednesday afternoon to join the workshop which was aimed at raising awareness about fire safety and what measures to be taken during a fire emergency.

Robeam Ujaha an Environmental Health Practitioner at the Swakopmund Municipality said people don’t know what fire safety is, “so we thought how do we start educating people on fire safety and that is when we decided to start with schools. All local schools in Swakopmund received an invitation letter. The idea today was to raise awareness on the use of a fire extinguisher itself because it is some-thing we have in our homes”.
During an interview with Namib Times, Ujaha said it is now up to the group which attended the workshop to go and share the information with fellow colleagues, learners and community members. “We also want to build a relationship with the community, because our next step is to approach the community in the informal DRC settlement where fire accidents are more common”, added Ujaha. To garner school interest, the workshop was started with an open talk on scholar patrols and road safety tips for pedestrians, which was shared by Senior Traffic Officer Thomas Shindume.
After the workshop the Acting Deputy Fire Chief Mr. Shongolo said he noticed that the people need more and more training on fire safety.
During the workshop, it was clear that many schools in Swakopmund do not have fire hoses to use for fire emergencies, their fire hydrants are outdated and out of order and people never received training on how to use fire hydrants.
The workshop was organised by the Swakopmund Municipality’s Health Department in Collaboration with the Fire Brigade Department. Schools that attended the work-shop were Namib High school, Swakopmund Secondary school, Westside High school, and Atlantic Junior Secondary school, Pro-ed Akademie, Swakopmund Christian Academy, Festus Gonteb Primary school, Tamariskia Primary school and Vrede Rede Primary school.