A mock fire and evacuation drill by personnel of the Fire and Rescue Services Department was held on the campus of a school on Wednesday to equip students with skills to react to disasters such as fire accidents. The exercise was held as part of the national-level fire and evacuation drill.
About 20 fire and rescue services personnel drawn from various fire stations in Vellore district demonstrated evacuation measures for the students of Holy Cross School. They showed the students how to respond in case of an emergency. The students were roped in to be part of the drill as they searched for injured persons at the site, led the firemen to them and helped in bringing them out in stretchers.
Annual exercise
“Every year, the drill is conducted for students of one school at each of the district headquarters to create awareness among them. We explained how students should act in case of an emergency situation, and how they should safely come out of a building where a fire has occurred or in case of a collapse,” said P. Vinayagam, Station Fire Officer, Vellore.
The personnel recalled the fire that broke out in a school at Kumbakonam and marriage hall in Srirangam, Tiruchi in which the persons did not know the way to get out of the building.
The students were also involved in the operations. They were made to search and find people “injured” in accidents _ such as those who were hurt while trying to get out or in a stampede and helped in shifting them out, he added. Apart from the evacuation measures, the personnel also demonstrated fire-fighting skills, particularly use of hose pipes to extinguish the fire. Meenakshi Vijayakumar, deputy director of Fire Services, North Western Region, Vellore and S. Murugesan, district officer, Fire and Rescue Services, Vellore were present.
