 Institution of fires have become a major public health problem in the eastern Africa region, either affecting schools, prisons, office blocks and buildings. Fire refers to the uncontrolled burning of settlements or forests of vehicles or vessels and is a very frequent form of hazards in eastern Africa. It may be accidental or deliberate. It may be natural or technological. Elements of fire include fuel, heat and a supply of oxygen. If any one of these three is removed, then the fire will not exist. Fire causes burns and shock, disability and death, damage and loss to property, environmental degradation and pollution. It may result into a mass casualty incident. Factors that influence fire include vegetation and weather, availability of combustibles and toxicity of flamables, absence of warning, magnitude of exposure and age of victim, availability of firefighting equipment and housing characteristics. Causes of fires include electrical causes. This may be broken and dirty insulators, loose and flexible wiring, perishable or damaged insulation of wiring, bad connections including overloading, incorrect fusing and poor arthing and current or electricity traveling via gas pipes. Human causes include smoking, cooking and unattended fires. Appliances left on including cookers and irons, aerosols, careless handling and playing with fire, halson and misuse of appliances. These are the major classes of fires. Class F fires result from ordinary combustible materials such as wood, paper, grass, cotton or cloth. The extinguishing media is usually water or dry chemical powder for sand and fire beating for these types of fires. Class B fires result from flammable liquids such as kerosene, petrol, spirit, cooking fires. The most effective extinguishing media is form and dry chemical powder. Class C fires involve gases such as methane, propane, butane. These gases can produce explosions. Extinguishing methods involve closing off the valve or source of the leakage of the gas but we can also use dry chemical powder. Class D fires result from metal heating such as aluminium and magnesium. The main extinguishing media is dry chemical powder. These fires are capable of reaching very high temperatures. As we can see dry chemical powder is a form that is useful for all classes of fires. Electrical fires do not constitute a class of their own but may be either A, B, C or D types of fires. Extinguishing involves cutting off electricity if possible. In the recommended media is dry chemical powder or carbon dioxide. Methods of fire extinguishing include smothering, starvation and cooling. If you have some fire extinguishers where you are try and look at them and examine them. What is their content? What classes of fires are they indicated for? Kindly check the expired deaths and service of these gadgets. If possible you can have a demonstration on the actual use of an extinguisher. Portable fire extinguishers are the first aid firefighting equipment, FAFA, normally operated by one person. Water containing extinguishers often have a red label. Form containing extinguishers usually have a cream label. Dry chemical powder extinguishers usually have a blue label. And carbon dioxide extinguishers usually have a black label. Nowadays, most extinguishers are red in color but only are only differentiated by their color cord. That is, the extinguishers are red in color but a color cord is placed on them to indicate their content. Look at a fire extinguisher near you and try to check for some of these. Safety implications of handheld extinguishers. Always not the following hazards when using extinguishers. The possibility of electrocution. Inhalation of dry chemical powder. First bite from carbon dioxide. Their failure rates are usually higher. And then the issue of weight. Noise, a lot of noise especially from the carbon dioxide fire extinguishers. Dry chemical powder extinguishers may cause impaired vision when used. Pre-hospital fire management is an important adjunct to fire control. Organize and establish an incident command structure. Extinguish the fire. Conduct a rapid needs assessment. Search and rescue is necessary. For evacuation of victims. Initial triage and first aid to the victims is necessary. Transporting the victims to the health facilities. Use available resources and mobilize for others if needed. Hospital best operations are also an important adjunct to fire management. Establish a receiving mechanism and emergency management procedures for victims of fires. Fire prevention is an important aspect of fire control. What factors do you think increase fire risk and how do you think fires can be prevented in institutions in your district? Fire prevention includes building standards that incorporate hazard reduction. No smoking signs. Orderly arrangement of goods to avoid spontaneous ignition. Providing space between goods and avoiding congestion in dormitories. Others include fire segregated walls and preventive measures against ease spread of fire. Fire prevention also involves good housekeeping and awareness creation to create a sense of community responsibility. Is need to strengthen fire rescue departments. Enforce legislation and set bylaws to prevent fires. Fire protection involves installation of fire equipment inside and outside of buildings. Fire escapes exits and escape signs. Protect buildings from extensive damage resulting from fires. Handa appliances include extinguishers and buckets of sand that are in easy reach. We may also have fire installations depending on availability of resources including risers, hose reels and external private hydrants. Fixed installations include foam, gases and dry chemical powder. Advanced systems include automatic sprinkler systems and fire warning gadgets. Fire drills should cover fire alarm effectiveness whether a physical alarm is installed or we depend on a human alarm. This should be tested. They also cover timeliness of notification. Fire teams conformance with established fire procedures. Safe evacuation and assembly. Emphasis should be on orderly evacuation rather than speed. Evacuation is the removal of people from an area of danger to a safe area in an orderly manner to prevent confusion and panic. It is important to provide an evacuation assembly point that is for aid workers involved in fire management and also the place where affected persons should assemble. If a staff member or other members from the building or students of pupils are not seen during the roll call then the fire team conducts a search and rescue. All this should be tested in the fire evacuation procedures. There is also the rendezvous point for evacuation which is the meeting point for the first responders such as fire fighters or people designated to address fires in an institution. These should be carefully selected.