|Garissa Municipal Council has joined a number of other Municipalities who have taken the opportunity to send their employees for training at International Centre of Technology’s Fire Fighting and Disaster Management Department.

The eleven trainees will take courses in learning how to prevent fire, fight fire and first aid. The training will be much welcomed by the communities around Garissa: being a very dry part of the country and subject to drought and high fire risk.

ICT staff welcomed the men and women from Garissa clad in their traditional attire of Buibuis and Kanzus who were all very keen to start on their training.

While being taken on a tour around the college and grounds, they could not help but marvel at its beauty; having come from a dry region, they were well impressed by the green plants, trees and colourful flowers that characterize the college and its surroundings.

Garissa Town Clerk, Mr. Charles Ndambo, was however, more concerned with the biceps and muscles of the trainees, saying he would want to see the trainees more muscular and flexible once they had finished the physical training part of the course.

The eight men and three ladies were all eager to begin their classes, and the ICT community was happy to see new faces around that brought with them the rich culture of North Kenya; adding to the already diverse nature of International Centre of Technology – helping to live up to its name as an international centre of excellence, knowledge and technology.

On the 31st July 2008, fire trainees from Kericho Municipal Council graduated after completing their two month course in Fire Fighting and First Aid.

What made this graduation different was that two of the fire students were women; fire fighting being an unusual career choice for Kenyan women, with the fire service at present being largely dominated by men, something we hope to change.

As well as the Graduation ceremony we held an ICT Community Fire Awareness Day for the graduates to present drills and show the techniques needed to avoid fire outbreaks and how to respond to fire.

The trainees were keen to showcase their newly acquired skills to the community present and the media.

The day was completed by a tree planting ceremony and Francis Karuru, a student at ICT presented a song.

The next intake for Disaster Management, Fire Fighting and First Aid courses are in September 2008.

We hope more women will be encouraged to train as fire fighters; to challenge the status quo and follow the example of ICT’s newly qualified women fire fighters.

One year ago we started training courses in fire fighting and first aid at International Centre of Technology, and so far we have numbered only three women trainees on this exciting and challenging course.

On a recent training course we had two women, Joyce Chelanga and Edna Chepwogen who are Kericho Municipal Council employees along with Alfred Kipkoech and Kipyegon Sang.
All four demonstrated perfect endurance and expertise in their areas of duties assigned. The graduation took place on the 31st of July 2008 along with a Community Fire Awareness dubbed “Fight fire with skills" following the Pass Out Parade for Edna, Joyce, Alfred and Kipyegon.

ICT’s aim is to sensitize the public to the importance of having basic fire fighting and first aid skills as well as raising awareness to organizations, industries and institutions the importance of having fire equipment and employees trained in first response to fire outbreak.

From left Alfred Kipkoech, Joyce Chelangat, Kipyegon Sang and Edna Chepwogen who have just finished their Fire Fighting course at ICT and graduated on 31 July 2008

For the two women from Kericho, this is a milestone achievement, having come from a community where women are expected to stick to their feminine roles.

Pictured from left Alfred Kipkoech, Joyce Chelangat, Kipyegon Sang and Edna Chepwogen graduating in ICT Fire Fighting course on 31st July 2008

Joyce and Edna have refused to allow traditions to put them down, and with a strong spirit endured a tough and physical training, determined to be the among the few women fire fighters in Kenya and to join an otherwise male dominated industry of Fire Fighters.

 

International Centre of Technology – Disaster Management Training

Despite the slow start to the year as a result of the violence following the December elections, we have good news to announce. The ICT fire and Disaster management project is moving from strength to strength

At the beginning of May 2008, International Centre of Technology (ICT) was awarded a National Certificate by the Department of Industrial Training. (DIT)

ICT joins the list of very few DIT authorised training institutions in Kenya, certified to undertake Fire and First Aid Training including the supply and maintenance of fire extinguishers.

This certification is a new addition to the one previously received from the Municipal Council of Thika in compliance with their standards.

Our clients will be delighted to know that ICT has passed the rigorous test and inspection required for this certification as we are now compliant to all government standards and regulations to be awarded this certification.

The certification also means that clients who undertake Fire and First Aid Training with us will be able to claim back a significant amount of the training fee.

The government is encouraging companies to undertake fire training for their employees by refunding part of the training fees as an incentive to businesses to promote fire prevention, safety and awareness of fire risk in the workplace.

We extend our appreciation and grateful thanks to the following, as without their help and vision Out of Afrika Fire Project would not have become a reality.

Martin Tuckey - Dorset Fire and Rescue - Martin has over the past few years worked hard to collect a lot of fire equipment for OOA and his colleagues have helped with packing and loading vans with the donations.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue - especially Alan House, Deputy Chief Fire Officer who responded positively to our request for a fire appliance and arranged for a team of volunteers to come to Kenya and train our team of fire fighters. Hampshire Urban Fire and Rescue volunteer team who taught fire training and first aid at ICT and have made a big contribution to make the project a success.

Nigel Action, Deputy Chief Fire Officer of Guernsey Fire and Rescue who recently donated a fire appliance to be shipped to Kenya this summer. Gary Sargent and Glen Hamon who drove the appliance over from Guernsey to Poole.

Thika Fire and Rescue officers for their co-operation, assistance and partnership in fighting fires in the community and in Kenya generally

Website Links
DIT: www.ditkenya.org
Hampshire Fire & Rescue www.hantsfire.gov.uk
Dorset Fire & Rescue www.dorsetfire.co.uk
States of Guernsey: Fire and Rescue Service
www.thikamunicipal.go.ke

More news >>

• Guernsey Fire and Rescue have donated a surplus fire appliance to OOA  

• Guernsey Fire and Rescue on the BBC

• ICT has a new Head of Department

• Fire training at ICT

• What is fire ?

• Fire News on BBC

• Fire engine from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service heads to Kenya >>

Samwel Kumba And Alphonce Shiundu Nairobi

The Ministry of Education has introduced new rules to improve safety in schools in the wake of recent students protests that rocked over 300 schools countrywide.

Education minister Sam Ongeri directed that all provincial secondary boarding schools be given between Sh150,000 and Sh350,000 each to buy fire-fighting equipment.


He also gave specifications on the building of dormitories among other measures to prevent deaths in schools.

Every school will have to set up a safety committee, instal speed governors for all school buses at 60kph and ensure speed-limit of 5kph for all vehicles within school compounds.

And classrooms will accommodate between 30 and 40 students to reduce congestion.


Improve safety

These were some of the measures announced by Prof Ongeri to improve safety and management in schools, some of which were rocked by unrest, which saw dormitories burnt and students destroy property worth millions of shillings.

Tuition will be allowed only for remedial classes and will follow guidelines set by the ministry.

Admission will be tied to bed space to avoid sharing beds and all doorways will be at least five feet wide and should be built in a way that allows them to be opened outwards.

Prof Ongeri said that each school had been given between Sh150,000 and Sh350,000 to implement the new directives.

The minister made the announcement when he launched the Safety Standards Manual for Schools at the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) headquarters on Tuesday.

Similar directives that detailed even the door and window specifications were first issued after the death of 67 boys in a fire tragedy at Kyanguli Secondary School in March 2001.

The move was immediately welcomed by the chairman of the Kenya Association of Headteachers, Mr Cleophas Tirop.

Prof Karega Mutahi, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Education, said protection of children in schools goes beyond fences and related security measures.

"There is the need for the community to partner with the teachers to assure children's safety as well as change of mental attitude in children themselves," the PS said.

The safety manual outlines specific guidelines on other issues including drug and substance abuse, disaster and emergency preparedness, school/community relations, infrastructure and how to create a conducive teaching and learning environment among others.

"By the end of 2015, we want all schools in Kenya to have attained School Safe Zone status," said Dr Agnes Abuom, the chair of the School Safe Zones National Task Force.

From The news archive.....

How safe are our schools? is a question that nags every parent whenever a fire outbreak is reported in a school.

Fires have become a common problem in recent years. No place is safe any more; even the hallowed precincts of courts and prisons have fallen victims and prey to the destructive flames.

But nowhere is the menace of fire more rampant than our learning institutions. Dormitories, offices, laboratories and other facilities have been the target of arsonists.

Almost every month, at least two schools suffer a fire outbreak. Though relatively few lives are lost, school fires have acquired an alarming notoriety.

But it would appear that after Kyanguli, school fires no longer generate any more heat.

After Prof. David Ndetei’s verbose Report On Post Trau- matic Stress Disorders and Associated Biological and Social Complications was shelved, there is little to show for our concern.

The report followed the infamous Kyanguli massacre in which 64 students died in a night inferno in March, 2001.

The Kyanguli massacre was a larger rendition of a 1998 massacre at Bombolulu Girls High school in the Coast Province, which killed several students.

Bishop Lawi Imathiu, who chaired the Commission of Inquiry that probed the Bombo- lulu disaster, proposes that school managers avoid crowding of dormitories.

In the Kyanguli case, the dormitory housed 130 students. The bishop proposes that many exit routes be created per dormitory and that hostel doors should not be locked from outside when students are inside.

But he cautions that such doors should be easily opened in case of emergency. Different prefects can keep separate keys to emergency exits.

“Of what use are doors when they are permanently locked, and the key kept in the school store?” he poses.

One would expect that with the growing frequency of school fires, head teachers would be falling over each other to install fire extinguishers in school laboratories, offices, and other fire-prone spots. It would also be expected that fire drills and first aid form part of the weekly activities in any boarding school worth its name; that fire equipment is checked for readiness in case of an emergency.

One would be forgiven for expecting that our universities, power suppliers and research institutions are working on ways to make building materials less inflammable, public buildings less fire prone, and creating awareness among the general public on fire preparedness.

Yet little has been done to prepare schools for fires. Our survey showed that only a handful of schools have fire extinguishers in offices, labora- tories, stores and kitchens, and even these were not regularly serviced.

Classrooms and dormitories had no fire extinguishers or emergency exits. Everywhere, contractors and school managers showed acute lack of interest in fire and safety measures.

In many schools, prefabricated buildings are a common sight. Most school property is combustible and is seldom subject to building and fire prevention regulations.

Furthermore, many public schools run on a shoe-string budget and cannot afford the luxury of fire fighting equipment. In the past the slapping of a VAT on fire equipment puts the price of extinguishers way above the reach of most institutions.

School inspectors hardly perform safety assessment on during routine checks in schools.

In an ideal situation, fire fighting training, like scouting, should be an integral part of the school’s co-curricula menu. Fire fighters, like National Youth servicemen and the police, form an integral part of the national security system, helping soldiers in times of war.

Though a few schools are situated near open water sources like ponds and rivers, a majority have only a limited supply of water. There is need for public institutions to provide fire hydrants (alternative water sources) to be used in cases of emergency.

The present situation where the Ministry of Water wants the fire brigade to pay for water used in putting of emergency fires is ridiculous.

Recently, the chairman of the Kenya National Fire Brigade Association says there is no legal provision for fire fighters to draw water from fire hydrants and open sources even during an emergency.

But if our municipal authorities are themselves so ill prepared to fight even a modest house fire, what would our cash strapped schools do in the face of a disaster of the Kyanguli or Nyeri High school scale?

Local councils are themselves barely capable of handling fire emergencies. Furthermore, low public awareness of safety engineering means that there is little public support towards fire brigades.

A study of the response of local fire brigades in Kenya is like a peek at a well drafted tragi-comedy. If by chance the phones work, the lone engine will most likely be grounded.

When, in the unlikely even the truck weaves its way through the traffic jam and reaches the site, it will be discovered that there is not enough water or foam to fight the fire.

Current fire stations have exceeded their life span and badly need replacement.

As of February this year, the Nairobi fire brigade had only two foam tenders and one engine. The Ruaraka station had one engine, while Industrial Area had none.

Local Government Minister, Mr Karisa Maitha, says the fire department needs Sh 3 billion to revamp the fire sector, but he is uncertain whether the money will be forthcoming in the next Budget, due next week.

Maitha says though the country’s fire brigades in major towns are a full time professional fire fighting force, lack of facilities have continued to hamper their efforts.

Embakasi MP, Mr David Mwenje, recently decried the poor location of the Nairobi fire station. He argues that the fire fighters find it difficult to respond quickly to fires because of heavy traffic jams that block the trucks.

Mwenje wants the fire station relocated from the city centre, and its services decentralised to smaller stations on the outskirts of the city. Players in the safety industry feel it is time a fire authority was created.

National Fire Brigade Association secretary, Mr Francis Liech, even wants the government to provide for a department of fire and ambulance services.

Liech also feels that there is need to form teams of paid and volunteer firemen in every district to prevent, detect and extinguish fires, the way the ministry of agriculture has extension officers.

He also wants a central training school established to standardise fire training curriculum.

Only the Kenya Polytechnic offers a comprehensive safety training course. Most fire fighters are trained on the job, and the quality of the training is wanting.

In the meantime, the ministry should strengthen school inspection teams to check fire safety in schools.

The writer is a regular contributor to the East African Standard  2006

One Response to “School fires: How safe are our schools?”

With two young children of my own it scares me when I think about sending them out to school in an environment that is becoming less safe every day. As parents I feel we need to visit their schools as much as possible to get a feeling of any safety hazards and address them with the school.
 

• Manual gives a school safety committee the direct role of keeping schools safe and secure.

• Committee’s mandate ranges from community mobilisation on school safety needs to a periodical review of issues of child safety in and around schools.

• Manual directs school heads to compile records dealing with security issues.

According to the new set of school safety guidelines released on Tuesday, teachers have the responsibility of keeping students safe in schools.
The Safety Standards Manual for Schools in Kenya gives a school safety committee the direct role of keeping schools safe and secure.

According to the manual, the safety committee will be a sub-committee of the school management committee whose members will include the headteacher and his or her deputy, the teacher in charge of guidance and counselling and a teacher in charge of school safety.

This committee’s mandate ranges from community mobilisation on school safety needs to a periodical review of issues of child safety in and around schools.

Participatory

It is also the duty of the team to seek the support of parents and students to ensure a participatory manner of dealing with security issues.

The value of information in ensuring secure schools is emphasised. The manual directs school heads to compile records dealing with security issues.
It is also the school head’s duty to take corrective measures according to evaluation reports generated by the safety committee.

The teacher in charge of school safety has the role of liaising with other teachers on school safety matters and sensitising students, parents and other community members on child safety issues.

He or she will also ensure that the safety measures agreed upon are implemented.
Apart from these responsibilities, teachers will have to counsel students and educate them on the risks that they face both within and outside school.

News source http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/461012/-/tk7gv3/-/index.html