Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Acting Commander in Chief of Civil Defense, stated that the General Command of Civil Defense has received a total of 25 rescue vehicles, large and small fire trucks and a mobile operations room.
These vehicles will be distributed to the general directorates and departments of civil defence across the UAE, according to the general plan of the Ministry of Interior.
He emphasized that the goal of the General Command of Civil Defense is to reduce the percentage of fires per year to up to 15 per cent. The most prevalent accidents are being studied in order to unite awareness programs for all community sectors at the state level, adding that in the light of the recommendations, the awareness methods will be selected according to the best methods.
As part of this year’s plan, new Off Road vehicles will be operating at the desert areas and touristic facilities located at the remote places with a response time ranging from 6-8 minutes to deal with any potential fire and electric shocks, Al Matroushi revealed in a press conference held on Tuesday at the premises of Transport and Workshops Department
The plan includes the provision of 50 per cent of the Off Road vehicles in the outer regions, while an agreement was signed with tourism companies to provide fire fighting vehicles, he pointed out
The press conference was attended by Colonel Adel Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Director of the Department of Transport and Workshops and Colonel Jassem Abdullah Al Ali, Director of Services and Support Affairs Department at the General Command of Civil Defense, and a number of civil defense officers.
Major General Al Matroushi said the new equipment and vehicles that have been received today are completion to the 45 equipment and vehicles that have been received during the past two years.
He explained that the majority of equipments have been manufactured by local companies, and they are equipped with the latest specifications, stressing that Civil Defense encourages local industries which have proved to meeting the requirements, and developing some of the systems and equipment used in the field of civil defense.
These vehicles provide maximum endurance and are subject to constant renovation and modernization to meet all emergency tasks in the country, he pointed out that
The General Command of Civil Defense benefits from the exhibitions organized annually on civil defense modern equipment, Al Matroushi said. “We order equipment which suits the UAE environment and the nature of tasks and events that occur in the country”.
He added that the focus in the past was to provide fire vehicles that are used in buildings and within the cities; because many of the fires and accidents occur in those areas, but now, after and with the development projects in desert areas, we added to the list of our concerns, the desert areas so that we can arrive as quickly as possible in the event of any emergency.
In response to a question about the high numbers of vehicle fires in 2011, he explained that the index of fires and accidents handled by the civil defense during the past year confirm that such fires have significantly dropped.
"However, at the same time, vehicles are still more exposed to fires, he added, blaming that to more electric circuits with which vehicles were fitted in the past two years, which is believed to be the main reason for the outbreak of fires, apart from the flammable materials such as gasoline.
He added that the increasing vehicles fires is a global problem, not a local, so the work of civil defense is now focusing on educating drivers to use exting