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| December 9, 2005 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 6, 1426 |
UN takes steps to check tent fires
ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: The United Nations (UN) on Thursday worked out contingency plans to pre-empt fires in the tents of earthquake survivors. The UN concerns come in the wake of tent fire incidents that have claimed precious lives. Six of a family were killed on Tuesday when a fire erupted in a tent in Mansehra village.
The United Nations’ Humanitarian spokesperson, Ben Malor, said: “The humanitarian community is deeply concerned about the likelihood of fires occurring, especially as people displaced by the earthquake attempt to heat their homes with the onset of winter.”
As part of the winterisation process, stoves and fuel are being delivered to spontaneous and planned camps by the military and aid agencies.
The camp management cluster, involving UNHCR, UNDP and other humanitarian partners, has been testing various stoves to ensure that they can be used safely in camp situations, Mr Malor said.
The UNHCR, which is in charge of camp management under the joint UN emergency response, is also tapping the experience of Afghan refugees to demonstrate the safe use of stoves as heating devices in tents.
Fire extinguishers, he said, have been placed in all planned military camps and sand buckets are also being delivered.
Additionally the camp management cluster is organizing information campaigns through teams of community workers to raise awareness on what to do if a fire breaks out.
Responding to a question about the concerns of the UN and humanitarian groups two months after the October 8 quake, he said some of the key concerns now were helping the Pakistani military in the construction of more safe/warm and secure emergency shelters for those at high altitudes, providing enough food at propositioning points for those who might not be able to come down from the mountains and remaining vigilant against outbreak of diseases in the planned camps at lower levels.
He said although there had been no major disease outbreak as yet, but there was no room for complacency.
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