KHOBAR: The Civil Defense has said that 26 percent of all fires in the Kingdom occur in the home and are due to substandard and poor maintenance of electrical fittings, power overloads, gas leaks and “children playing with fire”. Civil Defense spokesman in the Eastern Province Mansour Al-Dossari, speaking to Al-Hayat Arabic daily ahead of a public awareness campaign due to be launched Saturday, said that he hoped to reach out to the families of around 10,000 homes. “We are trying to do that through the Civil Defense Awareness exhibition which will be held at at Dammam University and which we hope will be visited by around 10,000 female students,” Al-Dossari said. He said that the number of fires occurring in the Kingdom has remained consistent compared to previous years. “That is a good sign, given the increase in population and expansion of residential districts,” he said. “Most fires in the home are cause by electricity, through a failure to conduct repairs, overloads, or plugs and fittings that do not meet safety standards and specifications. They are also caused by gas leaks and children playing with fire.” He said that parents too often leave children alone in the house unsupervised. “In one case children were playing with a cigarette lighter and started a fire, but fortunately neighbors alerted us and the house was close to a fire station, so they were rescued and survived but did suffer smoke inhalation,” he said. Al-Dossari said the awareness campaign would emphasize “lives first, property second”, and that it was part of campaigns that have been ongoing for 20 years. “Each year we try to target a different section of society, such as school pupils, factory workers or visitors to shopping malls,” he said. “We hope to inform this week 10,000 women university students, and through them pass the message on to 10,000 homes.”
