The Bengal fire and emergency services department has launched an awareness drive in Siliguri on fire safety through drills and will also inform people about the precautions they should take if a blaze breaks out.

Such campaigns, officials of the department said, would be carried out at shopping malls, hospitals, hotels, office buildings, industrial units, petroleum outlets and in crowded locations in and around the city.

“The drills will be organised even in places like correctional home and North Bengal University,” said a source.

The campaign, which was flagged off on May 5 in Calcutta, will continue till June 5. Throughout the month, teams from the department will travel to various locations carrying equipment and will demonstrate how one should respond to a fire.

In Siliguri, the demonstrations started on May 11 and will continue till June 5.

“In the course of the campaign, they will also conduct fire audits at these sites to ascertain whether the places have adequate fire-fighting equipment and arrangements to evacuate people. We are carrying out mock fire drills, which include evacuation exercises. Also, during our visit, we are training people, for example, employees of industrial units and security men of shopping malls, as to how they should douse a fire,” said Bhaskar Nag, the officer-in-charge of the Siliguri fire station.

During the drills, the firemen are also demonstrating the use aerial ladders, robotic fire-fighting equipment, motorcycle-mounted extinguishers and also how mobile control rooms operate.

“For the employees of petrol pumps, we will conduct a separate training as we cannot have on-site demonstrations at a pump,” he added.

The department, Nag said, is also underscoring the need to keep adequate fire extinguishers in hotels, hospitals, schools, colleges, offices, markets and factories.

“We believe each household should have a fire extinguisher as many fire accidents can be traced to LPG cylinders in kitchens,” the official said.