IN order to respond to disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes in a timely manner, the Myanmar Fire Brigade Headquarters in Mayangon Township, Yangon region, is monitoring from its Command-and-Control Centre.

The Command-and-Control Centre was established on 25 July 2011 and started its operation on 5 May 2013. Sixteen CCTV have been installed on tall buildings and towers in Yangon with the e-Watching Tower System to quickly detect fires and natural disasters in Yangon’s urban areas. These cameras can be rotated 360 degrees and can be rotated up/down 80 degrees and zoomed 30 times with 24-hour surveillance from the Command-and-Control Centre, helping to speed up the process.

With the onset of late winter and early summer, special attention should be paid to fire hazards, and the Myanmar Fire Brigade is working to minimize casualties in the event of a fire. In January 2022, there were 150 fires across the country, affecting more than 400 million kyats. According to the Myanmar Fire Brigade, 254 fires broke out in February, costing more than 900 million kyats in those two months.

“In January and February this year, the damage caused by the fire increased more than last year. The increase in urban development and the development of industrial zones is a challenge for the fire, which is detrimental to the state and the people,” said the Director of the Myanmar Fire Brigade Headquarters.

“With more than 2,000 fires each year, therefore, we are working hard to reduce the cost of the incidents,” he continued.

He added the need for a community-based fire safety system, and the centre is working in a timely manner to minimize the damages caused by the fire. As fires at factories and garment factories are a loss for the State, employers and employees, people are urged to call 191 as soon as possible in case of fire.

— Nyein Thu (MNA)/ GNLM

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