It was obviously a major incident, the smoke was trailing for miles. Well it was in the newspaper today (see below). A plastics factory went up in flames. Now the worrying thing for me was a quote in the paper from an anonymous manager from the plant who said the the Civil Defense (Fire Brigade) were trying to put it out with water, when all this did was create the massive amount of smoke. What they should have used was foam. Now this isn't the first time I have heard this. I heard of an illuminated sign on an apartment that was on fire and, again, they just sprayed it with water - an electrical fire - apparently there were sparks everywhere, but they just carried on until eventually it was put out! I guess the Civil Defense are either badly trained or lacking equipment, but it is a worry. To be honest I would hate to have to rely on any of the emergency services out here. Firstly, they can never get anywhere quick enough because of the traffic and no one gets out of their way (see my previous blog http://neilandcaz.blogspot.com/2009/01/busy-day.html ). And secondly, they don't seem to know what they are doing when they get there! There seems to be a lot of reports of people dying on their way to hospital and I wonder if it's because the ambulance staff are incompetent - if it's like all other areas of the public sector out here then, probably!
Essam Al Ghalib and Suryatapa Bhattacharya
The National - News
06 Mar 2009
MUSAFFAH Fire destroyed a plastics factory in Musaffah yesterday. Firemen, police and ambulance crews were called to the Fiber Flex Factory around noon, arriving to find it engulfed by 20-metre flames. A toxic plume of smoke from the fire, which...read more...
Tech Tags: The National - News newspaper The Emirates
The fact that no one gets out of their way and that people die on the way to hospital should not be a reflection on the emergency services but rather on those who don't get out of their way.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the paramedics they are extremely well trained. The majority of them are Filipino emergency room technicians who are experienced in dealing with trauma.
Regarding the fire, I was there shortly after it began. The comment from the manager that didn't want to be named was regarding the incredible amount of smoke the fire was putting out. His comment was about how the water compounded the problem with the smoke. With foam and water the civil defense managed to have everything under control in less than three hours. The firemen risked their lives and were standing meters away from the explosions as they were going off.
Give the emergency services a break will you ?
Essam Al Ghalib