JOHOR BARU: The drastic hike in incidents of fire nationwide last year is very alarming and requires more proactive preventive measures and enforcement when 36,043 calls over fire were recorded compared to 28,853 calls in 2017.
Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (MFRD) deputy director-general (Development) Datuk Soiman Jahid said that, of the total last year, according to statistics, 4,928 calls were recorded in Johor compared to 3,610 the previous year.
‘’This shows a very significant increase in the number of fires in the country requiring us to take a more proactive action including enforcement measures,’’ he said in his speech when launching the Johor MFRD Fire Safety Seminar here today.
However, he said that only RM3.3 billion in property went up in smoke last year compared to RM5.2 billion loss in 2017 while property worth RM28.3 billion was saved last year compared to RM51 billion in 2017.
A total 12,559 Notices to Eradicate the Dangers of Fire (A Notice) were issued nationwide last year including 224 notices which were issued in this state, he added.
Soiman said that the notices issued was not meant to find faults at the premises but was aimed at improving the fire safety installation system and to ensure they functioned properly in the light of a fire.
Meanwhile in Seremban, RM668.2 million worth of property which were involved in fires were saved by the Negri Sembilan MFRD in the first six month of this year.
Its deputy director Abd. Rahman Ali said that RM163.8 million worth of property was destroyed by fire in the same period.
‘’Three people perished in fires and seven were injured in the first six months of this year,’’ he told reporters after a Fire Safety Campaign in conjunction with the 2019 World FireFighters’ Day celebration at the Seremban 2 MFRD Station here today.
‘’For the period from January to June, we received 3,490 calls, and of the total, 1,614 were concerning fires, 1,846 were rescue calls, nine were calls for special tasks and 21 prank calls,’’ he added. — Bernama
