VIJAYAWADA: In a first of its kind in the State, the AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department is building an auxiliary force with private persons.
The idea is to inculcate capacity building, create awareness on disasters and life saving techniques in the civil society and is the brain child of Director General, Fire Services, K. Satyanarayana, said Krishna District Fire Officer (DFO) D. Niranjan Reddy.
“As many as 300 private security agencies are being trained as fire volunteers in the first phase in the State Capital. Later, the auxiliary force system would be introduced in all districts,” said Director of Fire Services, K. Jayaram Naik, who attended a workshop for security personnel held at the Auto Nagar Fire Station here on Tuesday.
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The Station Fire Officers (SFOs), firemen and other staff would visit the offices of the security agencies and train them, said Mr. Naik.
Additional Director P.V. Ramana, addressing the private fire force, said the process had begun with the enrolment of fire volunteers and they would be divided into communication, operation, logistic and medical wings.
“After successful completion of training for about three months, [the] Fire Department will award certificates, auxiliary fire force logo, dress code and material to the teams,” Mr. Ramana said.
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The private force would be trained through mock drills, screening of documentaries, rallies and campaigns. The would also undergo on-hand training in operating fire fighting equipment and use of VHF sets, said Regional Fire Officer (RFO-Eastern Region) S.V. Chowdary.
The AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department will impart training in building collapse, flood and cyclone, rail and road accidents and stampede aspects. Training classes would be conducted for the district and station-level teams at various fire stations. “We will train DWCRA women on safety on LPG connections and NCC and NSS students on fire prevention and rescue,” said Mr. Niranjan Reddy.
Focus on fire prevention
“We will utilise the services of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), District Disaster Management Agency (DDMA) and the experts will act as resource persons and teach on awareness, prevention, disaster response and life saving techniques,” said Auxiliary Fire Service District Coordinator A.V. Shankar Rao.
Later, the fire personnel gave a demo on fire fighting equipment. Additional DFO V. Srinivas Reddy and SFOs trained the auxiliary forces.