Authorities plan measures to avoid domestic fire accidents Wednesday, 09 November 2011 05:03 DOHA: Use of substandard electrical appliances and mishandling cooking gas cylinders are the major causes of fire erupting in homes, say the authorities concerned. So a two-pronged strategy is being adopted by the authorities whose focus is on preventing the import of bad quality electrical appliances into the country and raising public awareness about how to safely handle cooking gas cylinders. Officials say householders must not compromise on the quality of electrical appliances for use in homes at any cost and must always buy branded appliances which carry certification marks. The authorities have short-listed the causes of fire taking place in homes after a careful study of such incidents over a period of time and are taking adequate measures to prevent their recurrence. If the wirings in a home are of poor quality and the appliances used are substandard, short circuits can be caused leading to fire, and children must not be allowed to play with the wirings or electrical gadgets. The laboratories and standards department of the environment ministry tests all electrical appliances that are imported into the country and have approved some 30 specifications. The officials of the department meet twice a year to review the list of approved appliances. This was disclosed by senior officials of the department at a seminar held by the Media Department of Civil Defense here recently. The department has booklets to guide people on how to prevent fires in their homes and these booklets, which are distributed to the public free of cost, give details of the approved standards and specifications of electrical appliances. As for cooking gas cylinders, they must be placed safely in the kitchen and made sure that its pipe is safe and not leaking. Children can sometimes open the gas, so elders must always keep an eye. “Some people don’t take these basic precautions and the result is a catastrophe,” a senior official told the above seminar. Those who took part in the symposium included Lieutenant-Colonel Murshid Al Kuwari, Ahmed Abdul Rahim, from the standards department, and Brigadier Huseein Al Asmakh. Al Asmakh talked in detail about what people should do in case of fire in a home and said some people think that the washroom is the safest place to hide which is not true. The Peninsula

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