By Nancy Nais
BARIO, Jan 30: Screams of ‘fire, fire’ and of ringing bells woke up 66 primary school children here last night. Still in a daze, they rose from their dormitory beds and walked out of their room with sleepy but curious looks.
Together with 11 teachers and staff, these children from SK Bario were actually being put through their first fire drill for this year.
Ten members from the Bario voluntary firefighting unit (PBS) conducted the drill together with firefighters from Marudi fire station at 10.30pm to ensure the primary school was ready to face any eventuality.
Supervised by Marudi fire station chief Maureen Sim, the exercise was to test the efficiency of the Bario PBS unit as part of their training to face a real fire outbreak.
“The pupils, teachers and administration staff were drilled on fire evacuation. Some of the younger children who were totally unaware and too sleepy to get up were assisted by the firefighters, who carried them out of the dormitory.
“They also witnessed a demonstration on fire safety, procedures and demo on using fire extinguishers, practical search and rescue (SAR) and checking the school’s dormitory blocks by the volunteers,” said Sim when contacted.
The children were also taught the ‘Stop, Drop and Roll (SDR)’ routine, which they found fun and exciting to learn. In fact, their dazed faces turned to laughter once they participated in the SDR session.
Meanwhile, 125 secondary students, four teachers and two school staff from SMK Bario also experienced a similar activity on Jan 28.
“The fire drills are intended to ensure, by means of training and rehearsal, that people who may be in danger act in a calm and orderly manner. Apart from that, evacuation of the building is also achieved in a speedy and orderly manner,” Sim shared.
She added that those with responsibilities would be able to carry out their tasks to ensure the safety of all concerned and that escape routes are used accordingly. — DayakDaily
