The City's emergency management services warns of the dangers of grass fires, often more prevalent in winter

RELATED LINKS: City launches Winter Safety campaign THE City's emergency management services have launched a three-month campaign to teach residents of informal settlements about the dangers of fire. Read more About Emergency Management Services EMS operates a disaster management centre; helps communities and the City to prevent disasters or minimise the impact of disasters; enforces by-laws and codes and responds to medical, fire and rescue incidents. Read more Orange Papa Q helps teach kids safety THE City of Johannesburg has enlisted the services of a Superhero to teach children to become more aware of potential hazards in their environment. Read more

A City fire truck ready to tackle any emergency

EMS drives home fire safety message Reinforcing the City's Winter Safety Campaign's, the Emergency Management Services is encouraging parents to teach their children about fires. June 27, 2006 By Thabang Mokoka JOHANNESBURG'S emergency management services (EMS) is urging parents to drive home the City's 2006 Winter Safety Campaign's messages about matches and fire safety to their children. In its second phase, the three-month campaign is aimed at educating Johannesburg residents on the safe use of matches, candles, paraffin and gas stoves to "avoid a blaze". The EMS is now warning about the dangers of grass fires, often more prevalent in winter - and during school holidays. A problem, according to the media liaison officer for Johannesburg's EMS, is with children who go out into the fields to play with matches and start grass fires that can threaten houses and livestock. Most cases have occurred in open field areas in Randburg and Sandton as well as in the south of Joburg, in areas like Kibler Park. "We need to educate children about the dangers of this; every school holiday we see a sharp increase and this year is no exception," he said, adding that primary schools were the best places to spread the safety message Commenting on the effectiveness of the Winter Safety Campaign, Midgely said while children had caused more than 80 percent of fires in the home three years ago, it had dropped to one percent this year. The safety campaign centres on character Papa Q who teaches young ones about handling candles and paraffin with care and about the danger of playing with matches through radio and print media. Some of Papa Q's safety messages include: Matches and lighters are for adults only. Matches and lighters are tools for important jobs like lighting a stove, so they are not to be touched. Parents must keep matches and lighters high and out of reach. Teach your children to tell an adult if they find matches. The EMS also recommends that parents and children arrange to take time to visit their nearest fire station and learn about fire safety. Talks can be arranged via the Fire Service Command Centre on 011 375 5911. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za