PMC tenants learn about fire safety |14 August 2023
The Property Management Corporation (PMC) in collaboration with the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency (SFRSA) on Saturday held a fire safety programme for tenants living on the PMC housing estates in Mont Fleuri.
The purpose was to sensitise and train the tenants about safety measures and the proper use of fire equipment. This was through a detailed explanation and demonstration by SFRSA officers.
The session at Kan Gard was led by Kevin Rose, the head of training at SFRSA and Paul Faure, the sub-station officer. They explained to the tenants present, who were mostly children, what to do if there was a fire and how to extinguish fires.
This was followed by a demonstration on the use of fire safety equipment available on the premises such as extinguishers, fire hose reel and fire blanket.
The children listened attentively as SFRSA public relations officer Terrence Arnephy talked about the misuse of fire safety and firefighting equipment and its consequences.
In addition to the talks, there were also educational ‘home safety tips’ pamphlets that were handed out as another method to sensitise the tenants on fire safety and preventions. The children even got the chance to handle the fire hose reel and fire extinguisher, with the assistance of the officers.
Lyn Emmanuel, a parent who attended the training, said it will be beneficial to the community as they will share the information with other tenants.
“When we received our apartment keys, the equipment was there but we did not get the training on how to handle them. Now we have a better understanding,” she said.
Mario Meriton, a teenager who was also present, said it was interesting to see and learn how the different equipment work because although he had always seen them he never knew how to operate one in case of a fire.
“I really learned a lot. Now I know how to help protect my family in the event of a fire,” he said.
For his part, Officer Arnephy said that SFRSA has agreed to do this progamme as they felt it was much needed, since there are many individuals in the communities that are unaware of the safety measures.
“We are trying to sensitise the public on a larger scale, this will not only help in fire safety but also decrease the number of vandalism and misuse of these equipment, because they will know how important and valuable these equipment are,” he added.
Philippa Larue, the head of communications at PMC, said the training was necessary because PMC uses a lot of its resources to ensure that these equipment are in place, in good condition and up to date.
“Putting these equipment in the estates costs a lot, takes a lot of time and it is still not enough. We need to sensitise the public so they know when and how to use it. We want you to help us help you,” she said.
She added that PMC is planning to bring this training to all public estates and will also be targeting children by holding similar training in schools as of next year.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the fire safety programme at the Kan Gard estate on Saturday.
Diane Larame
Photos by Louis Toussaint
