The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has urged winter campers to take necessary steps to avoid the risk of fire accidents. While attending the weekly ‘Police With You’ programme on Qatar Radio, MoI officials stressed the need to take prevention measures and adhere to the guidelines to avert accidents and warned of the danger of exposure to suffocation and inhaling carbon monoxide resulting from burning coal and firewood.Brig Ahmed Khalid al-Khulaifi, director of the North Security Department, asked campers to be fully aware of the need to pay attention to thermal energy sources such as gas and to be aware of the preventive requirements against fire and suffocation. “The role of security departments in general in dealing with fire incidents is to collect evidence and follow up on any new developments by opening reports in addition to requesting experts to know the causes of the fire fully,” he said.Lt Hamad Mohammed al-Jaber, officer in the Operations Department of the General Directorate of Civil Defence, suggested the campers use powder extinguishers when dealing with fire incidents noting that they are suitable for dealing with all types of fires. He underlined the need to avoid mistakes that may endanger others such as starting fires in unprepared places, neglecting electrical extensions and electronic devices, using extensions with weak power, leaving electronic devices running 24 hours a day without supervision or not equipping the camp with safety tools such as fire extinguishers and first-aid kits.He urged the campers to install high-quality electrical extensions that are resistant to weather factors and to insulate electrical cables. He also noted that avoiding placing electrical generators inside or near tents is important and stressed the need to install electrical breakers that disconnect immediately in the event of any malfunction.“Place flammable materials in places far from camps such as inside a civilian container with extinguishers placed next to them so that they can be used immediately in the event of an emergency,” he said, adding that the best way to ensure that coal or firewood is extinguished is to use sand.“The department centres continue to work 24 hours. The Civil Defence centres are close to the campsites,” he said. There are two centres in each of Sealine and Mesaieed to serve the southern region. There are also three centres to serve the northern region in Al Khor, Al Zubarah and Al Ruwais. In the western region, the centres are functioning at Al Jamiliya and Al Sheehaniya.Maj Dr Noura Abdullah al-Yahri, Forensic Medicine Consultant and Head of the Technical Affairs Department at the Forensic Medicine Centre, said the first steps that must be taken in the event of suffocation or inhalation of carbon monoxide resulting from burning coal or firewood are to move away from the source of smoke or remove it. “After the person leaves or moves away from the source of smoke, he needs a few minutes as a recovery period to remove the amount of carbon monoxide gas that he inhaled from the blood to replace this percentage with oxygen,” she said.