BANGI: Although putting out fires is the core service provided by the Fire and Rescue Department, of late they have been rendering more assistance in rescue work and operations.
Its director-general Datuk Seri Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said over the last three years the paradigm had changed from extinguishing fires, and 65 per cent of the emergency calls were for a range of rescue work.
"Almost two thirds of the emergency calls are for other services needed by the public such as search, rescue, recover and accident assistance. Only 35 percent of the calls are actually related to fire emergencies," he said after the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department's Outstanding Service Recognition Award ceremony at Institute Kemajuan Desa in Bangi today.
Wan Mohd Nor said in the past 50 per cent of the emergency calls were for firefighting and another 50 per cent was for all sorts of rescue work.
"These days search and rescue for missing persons in the woods, hills and hiking tracks, road accidents, drowning cases, landslides and encounter with wild animals are among the more common distress calls the department receives.”
He attributed the rise in the number of search and rescue work to community's involvement in recreational activities such as jungle trekking, hiking, mountain climbing, injuries from these activities and other outdoor activities.
"If you look at the statistics for the last three years, you will see that the trend has changed. In fact, fire calls received last year saw a drastic decreased by about 41 per cent compared 2016. This is a very big drop," he said.
He added that of all the states, Selangor and Johor were the busiest states where on an average there were about 18,000 and 10,000 calls, respectively, per year.
"Besides that, Selangor is also the state with the most number of distress calls, twice the number in other states, except Johor.
"Yearly, the 34 fire and rescue stations in Selangor receive about 500 to 600 emergency calls on an average," Wan Mohd Nor said, adding that one of the fire stations in the state recorded 800 distress calls once.