The Fire and Rescue Services Department personnel distributed awareness pamphlets to the public at various places across the district and made announcements on mikes mounted on fire tenders on lighting fireworks safely to celebrate the festival of lights without injuries.
Making announcement, the fire tenders and bike tenders covered Railway Junction, Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, Town Hall, Corporation office, Ukkadam, Oppanakara Street, Big Bazaar Street, Five Corner and Variety Hall Road. Nearly 10,000 pamphlets prepared by the department and LPG agencies were distributed to the public.
The awareness programmes were launched by District Fire officer S.R. Chandran at Town Hall on Thursday. The pamphlets had 14 safety tips on lighting fireworks. It included advice for children to light fireworks only in the presence of elders, wear only cotton clothes and avoid synthetic materials, use long stick to light crackers and have a bucket of water ready to put off fire. They also asked the public to avoid lighting rockets near huts and coconut trees, as rockets have caused most fires during Deepavali.
Outlets
During inspections at the temporary cracker outlets, the department checked if the shops had a second door (escape door) in case of emergency and adequate water and sand to put off fire. They were also asked to avoid using bulbs that emit heat and avoid candles during power failure.
In addition to fire tenders and personnel available at the stations, the department will be stationing fire tenders at Ukkadam, Flower Market, Singanallur and Gandhipuram from Friday morning. The vehicles are stationed strategically to attend fire calls at the earliest. The tenders will be stationed there till Sunday.
