Implementation Of Fire & Life Safety Standards Vital: DG

LAHORE, Jan 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 05th Jan, 2017 ) : Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer said on Thursday that it was need of the hour to ensure implementation of the Fire & Life Safety Standards as per building bylaws to prevent increasing number of fire incidents.

During a briefing, the provincial monitoring cell (PMC) revealed that the fire service responded to 14,033 fire emergencies and rescued 904 victims in all districts of Punjab during 2016. The data showed that 904 persons were injured during fire incidents in Punjab including 221 in Lahore, 130 in Rawalpindi and 125 in Faisalabad, whereas 72 people died in such incidents in the just ending year.

As many as 7,321 fire incidents took place due to short-circuiting, 795 due to gas leakage and 2,869 incidents were caused due to carelessness. A hundred and thirty-four cases were reported due to LPG cylinder blasts, 136 fireworks, 45 candle-lights, 108 kitchen fires, 136 forest fires, 486 unknown and 1,973 other fires.

Rescue 1122's Fire Service shifted 530 injured persons to different hospitals in Punjab, whereas 302 people were provided first aid. As many as 4,468 fire emergencies took place in commercial areas and 4,622 in residential and 4,943 in other areas. Most fire incidents took place due to violation or poor implementation of the Fire & Life Safety Standards.