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Fujairah: The emirate lacks the manpower and equipment to cope with any major industrial fire, a forum attended by local and international experts on fire safety in the oil industry heard yesterday.
The limited resources of the force could be a huge problem in case of a serious fire problem, said Maj Ali Juma Al Rashdi, head of operations at Fujairah Civil Defence.
"We only have a limited number of tankers which would stretch our limits in the event of just one fire. Imagine if, at the same time, another major fire would break out at an oil or gas site," he said. Al Rashdi said there was a shortage in specialist fire fighting equipment.
The warning was made as efforts were under way at the forum to establish a "mutual aid society" with the aim of attracting financial backing from the private sector to finance new petrol-related fire fighting equipment for Fujairah Civil Defence.
Fujairah boasts the second largest refuelling and bunkering ports in the world, as well as an oil refinery and a number or petrol storage facilities, making it a highly sensitive fire safety location.
The forum attracted representatives from a number of major oil and gas companies as well as federal and local level civil defence officials, and was inaugurated by Shaikh Hamad Bin Saif Al Sharqi, Deputy Ruler of Fujairah.
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