As children we are often told not to play with fire. Every human being should know the basics of extinguishing one when in danger, says Prashant Ranpise,the chief fire officer at the Pune Municipal Corporation,who has been conducting fire demonstration classes for all age groups. We began the training programme way back in the 1990s with an aim to help citizens fight fire and not be scared of it, Ranpise adds. Every year the PMC fire brigade trains over 5000 students from several schools. This year,till December 17,we conducted demonstrations in 38 schools, he says. The fire fighters of the city organise separate demonstration classes for the young and the old. One such training programme includes a practical demonstration to raise awareness about safety measures which can be adopted during a crisis situation. For the youngsters,the training programme comprises knowledge about different types of fires,basic steps of extinguishing a fire and helping a victim when required. Most of the mishaps take place because of household carelessness. The leakage of LPG cylinders is one such major cause. We train children to turn off the knobs of the burners, informs Ranpise. Over 20 per cent of such cases are prevented by a child's presence of mind, he adds with a smile. Ranpise recalls how a child's call had saved three lives from a ghastly fire three years back. The family would not have survived but for a call from the tiny tot. Children are also made aware about the right use of emergency numbers. We often get prank calls from children who do not realise the seriousness of such a call to 101. Educating them on such issues constitutes an important part of the training programme, shares Ranpise. Children prefer techniques which they can understand easily. So the programme at schools mostly includes practical demonstrations. The PMC fire brigade also has extensive two-day training programmes for employees at IT companies,shopping malls,theatres and hospitals. The training schedules include details on fire classifications,combustible sources,the extinguishing process and the right way to use fire equipment. It is very important to follow a certain code before dousing flames. People often panic when a fire breaks out. However,the tricky part is to keep one's cool and use proper means to extinguish it, Ranpise says.
