Close to 400 join training on use of fire extinguishers  

Some 400 students, maintenance personnel and office heads of the Tarlac State University underwent a hands-on training on the use of fire extinguishers on September 28.

Spearheaded by the LMS Industrial Trading, a company based in Tarlac City, the trainings were conducted in the three campuses of the university.

Participants took turn in performing the process of putting out fire using a fire extinguisher.

“It is important that we know how to use fire extinguishers, but we should be aware which extinguisher is more suitable for a particular fire,” Ms. Honeylyn Eugenio, branch manager of LMS said.

“Fire extinguishers vary and we all need to be educated about how they are used,” she said, adding that “the lives and safety of thousands of students are at risk if there is a fire.”

To make it easier for the participants to memorize the process of using extinguishers, they were told to remember two words: RACE and PASS.

RACE, according to Ms. Eugenio, stands for Rescue, Alarm, Contain and Extinguish.

PASS, she said, means: (1) Pull the pin; (2) Aim the extinguisher nozzle at the base of the fire; (3) Squeeze the handle, and; (4) Sweep the extinguisher from side to side at the base of the fire.

Ms. Eugenio, who has been giving trainings on fire extinguisher use for four years, said “fire should be extinguished within three minutes” and “there should be at least one fire extinguisher in every room and every corner in the hallway.” [Maria Adelaida D. Calayag, OPAI]