The Rwanda National Police (RNP) Fire and Rescue Brigade, in the early morning of Thursday, managed to put out fire that broke out of one of the dormitories at Gisenyi Adventist School (GASS) located in Gisenyi Sector, Rubavu District.
The Commanding Officer for Fire and Rescue Brigade, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Jean Baptiste Seminega, said the fire broke out of the boys dormitory at about 2:30am.
“The fire broke out at about 2:30am, unfortunately the school called the Police emergency line 112 about 20 minutes later–2:50am. Our standby fire truck in Gisenyi town was immediately dispatched and succesfully put out the fire before spreading to neighbouring facilities, including the girls dormitory, kitchen and school store. We also managed to rescue some of the students’ equipment from the affected building,” ACP Seminega said.
ACP Seminega called upon the general public to always call for emergency response promptly to prevent much loss and likely loss of lives.
“Every minute you waste the more damage you are causing at the affected property and putting other near by facilities at higher risk without forgetting the lives of people,” the CO said.
He further urged to public to take note of emergency contacts to guide them on calling the nearest fire and rescue team.
The Fire and Rescue Brigade has a fire truck stationed in Rubavu, although the school laboured to report the fire incident to the RNP General Headquarters in Kigali.
Moreover, the fire truck in Rubavu is stationed near the affected school.
The school headmaster, Oswald Kaliwabo thanked the Police’s swiftness.
“Those, who were at the school first attempted to put out the fire but failed and 11 rooms of the boys dormitory were affected in the process,” Kaliwabo said.
He added: “We called the Police a bit late, maybe if we had called quickly a lot could have been saved…. We thank the Police emergency response team that arrived few minutes later, successfully extinguished the fire and save other building from being torched.”
The mixed school has a population of about 300 students. (End)