Doha: The General Directorate of Civil Defence (GDCD) has recently acquired many advanced fire-fighting vehicles related to civil defence, including 90-metre and 112-metre ladder vehicles which can be use in case of fire incident in high-rise buildings, said an officer at the Directorate.
“The General Directorate is keen to develop its equipment and procuring latest equipment. Now the Directorate has a sophisticated vehicle that can reach faster to the spot in a record time before the arrival of normal fire vehicles,” said Captain Khalid Saud Al Kuwari, from the General Directorate of Traffic.
GDCD in an earlier statistics had said that it had improved its average response time to reach the spot to 7-10 minutes in 2017 compared to 7-12 minutes in 2016. The reduction in response was achieved despite continuous urbanisation and ongoing infrastructure work in the country.
Regarding inspection drives about safety measures at buildings, speaking to Qatar Radio recently on the occasion of Word Civil Defence Day, Al Kuwari said: “The General Directorate carries out two kinds of inspections; the first is periodic inspection while the second one is surprise inspection and both aim to save lives and properties of people.”
On the periodic inspection, he said, “Companies and institutions always succeed in it but they fail in surprise drives and a number of violations register against them during this kind of inspection.”
The Ministry of Interior represented by the General Directorate of Civil Defence on Sunday marked Word Civil Defence Day in the presence of a number of representatives of companies and related institutions, and a number of school students.
The celebration came under the theme ‘Children’s Safety is Our Responsibility’, to underscore the importance of promoting a culture of concern for children as the future of the renaissance of the nations, and the cornerstone for building societies.
The Word Civil Defence Day is celebrated worldwide on the 1st of March each year, in order to remind the role played by Civil Defence to protect lives and property.
About the occurrence of most of fire incidents, another official from the General Directorate of Civil Defence said that most of fire incidents used to occur in summers at homes due to electricity problems and also fire incidents in vehicles during same season. GDCD looks forward to achieving the Ministry of Interior’s strategy in the public safety sector and enhancing its procedures in various sectors in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. It will accomplish it by raising the level of efficiency and skills.
