LABUAN, Oct 6 — Swift action by the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department helped salvage properties worth about RM36 billion from going up in smoke nationwide from January to September this year.
On the other hand, fires caused an estimated damage totalling RM2.7 billion during the same period.
Director-general, Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said the department was constantly identifying weaknesses for improvement to ensure rescue operations were executed smoothly.
He said 57,221 emergency calls were made during the same period, and of the number, 20,529 were on fire; 34, 865 on rescue; and 1,586 on special social services.
“During the same period, we recorded a total of 94 deaths and 287 injury cases due to fire,” Wan Mohd Nor told a press conference after attending an Award Presentation ceremony here today.
He also disclosed that there were 1,060 deaths and 5,216 cases of injury due to accidents.
“Despite increased educational awareness drives, we still recorded 286 prank calls that are unacceptable,” he said.
Wan Mohd Nor also said the department had 286 fire stations with 12,433 permanent personnel, firemen assistants (1,789), volunteer firemen (13,349), community firemen (266) and six fire brigade communities across the country. — Bernama
