Manipal: Notices have been put up in MU hostels stating that fire drills are going to be conducted at least twice every semester along with simple instructions of what to do in case of a fire. So far only one of the Kasturba Medical College International Centre (KMC IC) hostels has conducted this drill.
“On inspection of certain rooms, it was found that some people use bulbs or humidifiers in there cupboards to dry their clothes and due to this there was a small fire. We realised that we need to make students aware of what to do in case a fire breaks out,” said Col PS Muthanna, Chief security officer of MU.
Institutions have been given instructions online on what should be done in case of a fire. These drills are supposed to be conducted by their respective wardens and they can also take the help of their chief security officer.
There are fire extinguishers on every floor of each hostel and even though they look slightly old, their acid and powder content is changed every four months. The fire extinguishers have become much simpler and easy to handle these days. Earlier they also had different coloured extinguishers for different fires but now they have combined it to only one. “People just need to read the instructions given on the extinguisher these days to know what to do unlike the ones used earlier which needed the vials of acid and powder to be broken,” said Muthanna.
So in case of a fire, first try and put it out and if that still does not help then you should try and move away from the area and call the necessary people.
Box: important numbers
Emergency fire number: 101
Fire security officer (duty): 9945670912
Fire security vehicle: 9945670913
Sub-edited by Nida Unas |
