In a first, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) initiated a comprehensive session on Fire Marshals Training for hotels and restaurants in the city. The training was organised at the Mumbai Fire Brigade Headquarters in Byculla and was conducted by and under the aegis of the Mumbai Fire Chief & Director – Directorate of Maharashtra Fire Services – Dr Prabhat Rahangdale along with Mr A V Parab, Divisional Fire Officer; Mr D S Patil, Assistant Divisional Fire Officer; Mr V N Sangle, Sr. Station Officer; Mr D M Patil, Sr. Station Officer and team.
The programme imparted training on various aspects of Fire Fighting and educated participants on the many causes of fire and its hazards. The venue was packed to capacity with 124 participants attending the programme from different hotels and restaurants across the city. At the end of the training participants were awarded a badge and certified as Volunteer Fire Marshals.
“The HRAWI thanks Dr Rahangdale and the entire team for curating an invaluable session on fire safety and for raising our knowledge on the subject. This is a much-needed training programme for hotels and restaurants everywhere in the country. The training has helped us tremendously and each participant, a certified Volunteer Fire Marshal is now in a better position to improve and implement the standards of fire safety and to safeguard their establishments in case of fire hazards,” says Mr Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, HRAWI.
The training programme covered all the basic and must know causes and effects of FIRE (Find, Inform, Rescue and Extinguish). The session included on-ground activities that demonstrated on how to prevent fire, how to implement necessary emergency procedures, how to prevent the spread of fire, different types of fire extinguishers and how to use them correctly and effectively.
“Fire is not our enemy, it is nature and it is part of us. Our Fire Fighters put out fires inadvertently created by our own civilians, and in a way, we are fighting within ourselves. It need not be like this. It is our society and we all are a part of it, including me. We need volunteers in large numbers to aid the Fire Fighters’ efforts especially when every second counts during a fire catastrophe. We plead to everyone to join us in creating a safe environment by learning about the basic dos and don’ts in case of a fire emergency and for this, one does not need to wear a uniform. We welcome everyone to seek knowledge from us, we are more than happy to offer the necessary information. It is commendable that the HRAWI has voluntarily come forth to train and equip its members with the necessary fire fighting skills and I thank them for joining us,” says Dr Rahangdale.
The programme was divided in two parts, which first took the participants through the theoretical presentation which was later followed up with demonstration and practice in the open area of the Fire Brigade compound.
“The training was covered theoretically as well as practically for the Fire Marshals and the demonstrations proved to be crucial in making us understand exactly how things are done on-ground. We are glad that we could organise this training for our member establishments to make good use of, as, who better than the Fire Department to train our member representatives or their staff. With the incredible response that we have received for our first Fire Marshal Training, we feel encouraged to organize more such programmes for members in the future,” concludes Mr Gurbir Bedi, Executive Committee Member & Chairman of Restaurant Matters Sub Committee.