National-level Fire and Evacuation Drill Held at Rosario High School
Mangaluru: A Mock drill to bring awareness among the teachers and students, on how to prepare themselves and take safety measures during fire mishaps was held at the Rosario High School grounds here on January 20.
The fire personnel created a fire situation on the second floor of the Rosario High School building. When the fire was detected the teachers tried to douse it. At the same time, the fire service and rescue department was informed.
Speaking to mangalorean.com Chief Fire officer Shivashankara said “The Director-General Home Guards, Civil Defence and Fire Services sent a circular to hold the fire and evacuation drill in one school in every district. So we selected the Rosario High School. On January 19, we met the teachers and the administration of the school to guide them and assign the duty to teachers and students for the fire exercise. We started the evacuation drill at 10:30 am.”
Shivashankara further said, “When there was a fire, the students immediately came out of the school building and 10 students were missing. The school administration immediately informed us of the fire. Teachers along with the students rescued two of the students and tried to douse the fire. The fire service immediately rushed to the spot and rescued all the missing students in a defensive method, doused the fire, administered first aid to the students and sent them to the hospital by ambulance. Fire extinguishers were also used bringing awareness among the students and teachers.”
Shivashankara also said, “During the fire and evacuation drill, we have used 2 Agni (bikes), one Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP), 1 fire bowser, one water mist, one advanced rescue van and an Ambulance. The Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP) can be used up to 10 floors. Almost 35 fire personnel along with the officers participated in the operation. Teachers and students from Rosario High School co-operated well throughout the operations.”
When asked about opening a Fire Station in Ullal, Shivashankara said, “These are government approved projects. We need the approval from the government, but before that, we need to identify the land and inform the government. We have already identified the land in Derlakatte and the paperwork is now in process.”
Regional Fire Officer Tippeswamy, Parish Priest of Rosario Cathedral Fr J B Crasta, Headmaster Aloysius D’Souza, teachers and students were also present.