Africa- The police of Uganda gave a permit to the 100 police forces after giving them a training of 13 weeks in firefighting and rescue services.
While speaking in the pass out ceremony in Kampala on Friday, the director of police for fire prevention and rescue services, AIGP ‘Joseph Mugisa’, stated that new lot means that now forces have more than 700 firefighters throughout the whole Africa.
According to AIGP Mugisa, “This is an important milestone for the fire deterrence and recovery services directorate and in line with the entire force’s objective of strengthening it for better service delivery.”
He further stated that the group took training not only in firefighting but also in rescuing people trapped in pit latrines, holes and building rubbles, among others.
“They posted that firefighters at 46 fire stations around the country as we trained them for emergencies. Managing emergencies like fire outbreaks are for the brave and strong-minded persons, and our officers are ready for any task.”
Challenges
AIGP further stated that we trained them very well. However, there are still several challenges that their training are left with a meagre budget for training that he said limits their ability to have a significant number of firefighters.
“We like to give them foreign training in countries like South Africa and the UK to ensure our officers can take up-to-date fire fighting skills and get knowledge to grow with changing situations. This is, however, not possible with the current budget. We ask for an increment in our budget,” Mugisa said.
He stated that since their directorate is specialized and officers are on standby every time, they need a top-up of their salary to motivate officers as they do their work.
AIGP Mugisa also asked that the fire deterrence and rescue services directorate gets its training college to train as many firefighters as possible to deal with emergencies.
The Police Director for Welfare, Production and Sports, AIGP Andrew Sorowen, urged the fire prevention and rescue services directorate officers, always to be proactive.
According to Sorowen, please do not wait for the fires to break out and put them out. Move out to the public, especially schools, timber yards and markets, teach them how to prevent fires, and guide them on what to do. This way, the public will appreciate the force.
During the pass out, the new firefighters carried out drills to display skills in firefighting, rescuing people trapped under vehicles after accidents, putting out fires caused by fuel tanks and rescuing those trapped in tall buildings and pit latrines.
