English
Kinyarwanda
The Rwanda National Police (RNP) has called upon the public to use the force’s available free facilities to report cases of fire outbreak, to help put it out before it destroys the affected facility or spreading to other premises.
Senior Superintendent (SSP), Jean de Dieu Gashiramanga, the Commanding Officer of the Police’s Fire and Rescue Brigade said that some people take long to inform the force in case of fire breakout, which leads to loss of property, which could have been prevented.
“We appeal to the public to always contact us on the availed hotlines and other lines, so that we intervene and save the property before they are gutted entirely,” SSP Gashiramanga said.
“Fire and Rescue Brigade is responsible for making Rwanda safe from fire and quick response to emergency rescues to minimising fire related effects,” he added.
The unit also conducts fire safety inspection for fire basic equipment installations in public facilities.
He outlined 111, 07888311224, 07888311120 and 0788311335 as the contacts that can be used to call the RNP’s fire and rescue unit, in case of any fire incident.
According to Police statistics, 77 cases of fire outbreak were registered in last year, down from 93 recorded in 2012.
About 40 cases of the fire incidents registered last year were caused by short-circuit.
50 out of 93 cases registered in 2012 were also due to short circuit.
He explained that some short circuits are caused damaged electrical conductors, substandard, poor or old installations which cannot accommodate the connected electrical gadgets like welding.
Other fire breakout cases are caused by candles.
“The Rwanda National Police put in place measures to prevent and put out fire which include acquiring professional equipment, training its staff and conducting public awareness and equipping owners of facilities with skills to put out the fire themselves,” SSP Gashiramanga explained.
The equipment, he said, include firefighting trucks with cranes, excavator and oxygen compressor machines.
He appealed to owners of building to always use the accredited electrical equipment, install firefighting gadgets like fire extinguishers and smoke alarm in the facilities and always inspect the electrical wiring.
He also advised those cooking to always keep kitchen towels and oven mitts away from stoves while cooking, turn off electrical appliances and unplug cables after use, to minimize the risks.
Others preventative measures include, not to light cigarette in highly sensitive locations such as gas stations and not to leave cooking pots and pans unattended even for a short while.
Sand and water are other things, he said, can be used to put out fire.
The Rwanda National Police in partnership with the City of Kigali and Police and Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA), last year launched the exercise to install water hydrants in different parts of the city to further strengthen measures against fire breakouts.
The Police’s Fire and Rescue Brigade was facing a challenge of lack of enough water filling stations, as the nearest and only firefighting trucks’ refilling station was based in Kimisagara, Nyarugenge District.
This at times would affect their rescue mission in case it requires more water to put out fires.
A number of water hydrants have since been installed around big facilities like hotels, financial institutions, night clubs, schools, petrol stations and markets, among others places.
