Kirinyaga County Fire Department and Red Cross will embark on a training targeting students and the community on handling fire emergencies.
The training involves drills in different scenarios aimed at reducing injuries during the incidents.
John Kiama, head of the county fire department, said when the students have the knowledge on safety procedures, it will make it easier and safer for them to escape danger.
Speaking in Kerugoya while conducting drills with first aid providers, Kiama said the department’s main role is to extinguish fire, conduct searches for missing persons, and hand over to the Red Cross for first aid services.
“We have been joined by first aid providers for fire drills; the fire incidents may cause other injuries beyond the fire itself. So we want to ensure the numbers of damages are significantly reduced and more so prevented,” Kiama said.
Kiama noted that for accountability, all schools must have a fire assembly point where all pupils can converge in an emergency, making identification and search missions faster.
He recalled the past incident where students ran to the neighbourhood instead of fire safety points.
“We have seen pupils running to neighbours in case of school fire; all schools must have a fire assembly point where it will make rescues and accountability fast,” he said.
He added that teachers have received the training positively, and they have been placing requests for their students to be trained.
Immaculate Itemba, Red Cross Kirinyaga chapter, said the collaboration with the Red Cross will start with visiting schools and training them how to evacuate from fireplaces and later extend drills to a larger community.
The Red Cross mainly offers first aid services but has chosen a multisectoral approach to equip students with all necessary skills and steps to reduce injuries.
“We are focusing currently on students to train on how to evacuate safely and procedures to follow until handing over to relevant teams,” she said.
She said it is the role of all people to prevent fire incidents, and in case it happens, everyone has basic skills on how to handle it under different conditions.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure we prevent and control fire during an emergency; we hope training will reduce incidents and enhance the rescue procedures until casualties are handed over to medical teams,” she added.
The fire drill at Kerugoya brought together first aid providers from various departments at institutions, then after part of the teams visited various schools.
By Mutai Kipngetich
