MAKKAH, 18 October 2006 — With over three million pilgrims amalgamating at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, authorities in the holy city have a mammoth task in ensuring a safe environment for pilgrims.
Most pilgrims and visitors to the massive prayer complex have little idea of the lengths authorities go to in order to ensure pilgrims have a pleasant stay. Brig. Gen. Saad Al-Ghamdi, head of the fire department in Makkah, spoke to Arab News to give readers an insight into the work of the fire brigade in the holy city.
“The safety of pilgrims is my main focus during the holy month,” he said, adding, “In the last 10 days of Ramadan, a fire safety plan has been established especially for the central area. Firemen are working round the clock and are on duty 24-hours-a-day. There are units that start at 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. Another unit starts at 7 p.m. until 3 a.m. As you can see, we are working very hard to ensure pilgrims and visitors have a pleasant and safe stay in Makkah.”
Al-Ghamdi says his men work tirelessly day and night. “We have more than 200 firemen on motorbikes. They are divided into different groups and their main task is to attend to incidents as soon as they happen before the fire brigades get there. It takes a few minutes for fire brigades to reach places because they end up having to negotiate massive crowds,” he said.
The motorbike firemen are mainly required to clear people from incident sites, especially when there is a fire. “We need to make sure the roads are empty for the fire engines to get through and so that people are safe from danger,” he added.
“The motorbike units are equipped with basic firefighting equipment. Each motorbike fireman is equipped with an oxygen tank and a fire resistant uniform in case he has to enter a building on fire,” he said, adding, “We have other units on foot and their main job is to inspect buildings to ensure safety regulations are followed. So far 50 buildings have been emptied.”
The fire chief said that teams are located in 16 locations in the central area of Makkah in and around the massive prayer complex. “In each location there are eight units. If an accident happens then the unit closest to the place will go to the location. If that unit needs more support, then the second unit closest to the location will attend the site,” he said.
Capt. Saad Ali Al-Qahtani, head of the Al-Shumaisi Support Unit, said that there were a total of 53 rescue vehicles in the area. “We have 14 water trucks, five rescue cars, seven ambulances, 18 jeeps carrying lighting to provide power at disaster locations in case of an electricity cut, one tractor and three regular cars,” said Al-Qahtani.
The support unit is divided into five teams with each team consisting of a water truck, a rescue car and an ambulance. According to Al-Qahtani, there are 117 officers in the Al-Shumaisi support unit.
“This force is a support force in the Western Region. The location was chosen because it is in the central area and it would be easy to answer any call that is either coming from Makkah, Taif or Jeddah,” he said, adding that the support unit also covers the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway.
“We attend most accidents on the road if we are asked to. If we are asked for support in Makkah, then we will provide the needed support and the same thing if we were asked from Jeddah or Taif,” he said.
