The Fire Prevention Wing insists that schools must install fire fighting equipment on their premises, but they do not conduct fire drills in educational institutions, nor do they provide school personnel training.
Except for a few mock fire drills conducted during the Fire Safety Week every year, no serious effort is made to hold the drills to familiarise school personnel about fire emergency procedures. About 500 schools have installed fire safety equipment and another 1,600 are yet to do so. The schools want a school representative to be trained in conducting fire drills, use of fire fighting equipment and more importantly evacuating not only the students but also the inmates of neighbouring buildings in case of a fire.
“When the schools are willing to invest money in installing fire fighting equipment, it is the duty of officials to give free training on using the equipment. What is the point in having the equipment but not knowing how to use them?” asked the representative of a school in Secunderabad. Fire Prevention Wing additional director C. Lakshmi Prasad said they are not going to voluntarily offer their services, but “if the school managements request help, we can send one official.” He says the Fire Prevention Wing does not have sufficient staff to visit 2,000 schools and provide training, and the safety of students is the responsibility of the school.