A walk was taken out on Friday to commemorate the sacrifices of firefighters on International Firefighters Day.
The walk led by Rescue 1122 began at Muslim Town more and moved through Mozang and Chauburji to conclude at the LOS Lines Ferozepur Road via The Mall.
Rescuers paid tribute to firefighters who lost their lives in the Gaakharh Plaza fire in Rawalpindi.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Rizwan Naseer, director general of Rescue 1122, said that the installation of fire safety systems in buildings should be mandatory. “It is ironic that people make buildings and factories worth millions but do no install a simple fire safety system,” he said.
He said that the system could help detect a fire early.
“A high rise building needs fire hydrants, fire exits, a fire detection system and a sprinkler system,” he said.
Rescue 1122 is conducting a fire safety survey of 9,000 high rise building, he said. Over 1,700 buildings have been surveyed while the rest will be completed soon.
He said the survey would be sent to the Chief Minister for directions.
Naseer hoped new ambulances will replace the old fleet in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Multan in three months.
“There are 14 fire engines in Lahore, which are not sufficient,” he said. “However, we have been able to manage without suffering from a crisis.”
According to Rescue 1122 data, their firefighters have saved estimated losses worth Rs91.9 billion in 12,732 fire incidents in 36 cities since 2007.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2012.
Correction: In an earlier version of the article, the number of fire engines in Lahore was misquoted as 44 instead of 14. The error has been rectified.
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Rescue 1122 is a good work of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, highly appreciated.