At the launch of National Fire Service Week, Safe Kids Foundation and Pune Fire Department announced that 100 volunteers to be inducted as fire marshals, called Agni Surakhsa Mitras, to help deal with fire emergencies.
These volunteers are being fully trained in fire safety procedures and will complete the Safe Kids at Home fire safety program.
Funded by a Honeywell India grant, Safe Kids at Home is a home safety program to help prevent and reduce burns and scalds among children under 14 years old, in Pune. The program uses cutting-edge, experiential, and fun educational tools targeted at different age groups, to reach 425,000 children and 250,000 parents by 2018.
Introducing the first batch of volunteers, Prashant Ranpise, chief fire officer, Pune Fire Department, said, “Our firefighters risk their lives to battle fires, and the addition of 100 Agni Suraksha Mitras will not only bolster our workforce, but will inspire the youth to work alongside us, or even join us.”
Kiran Gawade, chief fire officer, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), said, “I am delighted that this year, PCMC is partnering with Pune Fire Department and Safe Kids Foundation to take the awareness drive to a larger section of the city’s people. As a region contiguous to Pune Municipal Corporation, it is only natural that this program be taken to PCMC as well. This will definitely help to boost up the morale and fire safety awareness in public of this fast-developing twin city.”
Dr Cinthia Pinto, program director, Safe Kids Foundation, said, “Training students as Agni Suraksha Mitras is a unique step towards transforming Pune into a safer city for our children. We are thankful to the Pune and PCMC fire departments for their support, and we are happy to partner with them in the awareness drive planned through the National Fire Service Week.”
Vikas Chadha, president, Honeywell India,said, “At Honeywell, we have decades of experience in developing and deploying technologies that keep families safe and secure wherever they live and work. Through our partnership with Safe Kids Foundation, we aspire to make Pune a model safe kids at home city.”
