KUALA LUMPUR – The Fire and Rescue Department is preparing in earnest for the arrival of the northeast monsoon, including conducting continuous training since October in collaboration with other disaster agencies.
The department’s fire and rescue operations division management head Jamri Masran said constant training was crucial prior to facing the real flooding scenario.
“Assets also play an important role, they need to be constantly checked and maintained to ensure that any equipment on land and marine such as boats can be deployed during floods,” he said in an interview on the ‘Selamat Pagi Malaysia’ programme over TV1 today.
In addition, he said senior officials were also instructed to conduct inspections at fire stations to check the readiness of the officers and assets as well as give them motivation in discharging their duties.
According to him, fire station personnel are also keeping abreast with any latest information issued by the Meteorological Department and the Irrigation and Drainage Department so that they are prepared to face any possible deluge.
“We have state-level operation centres and the headquarter’s operations management centre, which will channel the latest information from other agencies to fire stations.
Jamri said in October, the Fire and Rescue Department also launched the Rapid Action Team to improve their service during the northeast monsoon.
He said the northeast monsoon teams are set up in 11 states namely Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, as well as two Malaysian Fire and Rescue Academies in the central and northern regions.
“The composition of each team is not less than 15 people and comes with equipment including a light boat, which is necessary for the team to move, provide aid and transfer victims quickly,” he said. – Bernama, December 15, 2022
