PANJIM: Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant hailed the efforts of the fire force in tackling fire and emergency situations while also conducting skill upgradation trainings for the officers from various parts of India.
“It is a proud moment to award the fire personnel and officers who are tirelessly carrying out their duty. The Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) Headquarters is a Government of India recognised training centre where officers from Nagpur, Jammu and Kashmir and other places upgrade their skills,” the Chief Minister said while addressing the State on National Fire Service Day at DFES Headquarters, here, recently.
The day is commemorated to pay respects to personnel and officers across the country who laid down their lives while in the line of duty.
Acknowledging the hard work put in by the past and present directors, the Chief Minister also stated that Goa, being a small State is well-equipped with advanced technology to carry out their tasks and training.
Dr Sawant assured that the government will train and appoint “Apada Mitr” and “Apada Sakhi” to help the government agencies during crisis. The pan-India drive is being carried out by the disaster management authorities, and DFES is an important part of it.
DFES Director Nitin Raikar, in his address said that in the line of duty from April 2021 to March 2022, the department has handled various fire and emergency cases which included serious chemicals gas leakages, liquefied gas leakages, electrical fires, flood rescue, animal rescue, chemical spillage, road accidents, dry grass fires and urban fires. During this period, the department collectively attended 1,923 fire calls and 4,439 emergency calls, wherein 271 human lives and 632 animal lives were saved and property worth Rs 52.80 crore was saved/ salvaged due to timely action of the fire personnel.
“The fire and emergency services, I foresee in the future will no longer remain passive and reactionary. With the use of technology, data and better awareness, there is expected to be a more proactive and preventive approach towards safety,” he said.
With the theme for the current year as “Learn Fire Safety Increase Productivity”, the department held a drill so as to sensitise the community about safety practices and precautions.
Under the training of Trainers Programme for Secondary School Teachers in “Basic Fire Safety and Evacuation Drill” the department has trained 4,246 teachers and in another training of Trainers Programme for Primary School Teachers titled “Safer School Safer India” launched on April 14, 2015, the officers have trained 780 primary teachers who in turn trained 33,027 Primary School Children.
“Basic Fire Safety and Disaster Preparedness Training Programme” was conducted for students and citizens along with fire safety van. Apart from this, the department has trained 47 sponsored candidates in various aspects of Basic Fire Safety, General Fire Prevention, Evacuation Drill and Disaster Management and Fire Fighting Training during the year 2021-22.
