Spend a few minutes to read this...

I am not going to touch on how the accident occurred, which unfortunately because of the stupidity of 2 dudes high on 'something'...or else why were they driving so fast until their car can crash to the opposite side of the road? So let's leave that to the authorities. I want to blog about safety and public awareness...to understand what I am talking about, please read these...

"Seorang perempuan rentung dan terpanggang hidup-hidup dalam kemalangan berdekatan Bandar Tun Razak. Seorang "passer-by" telah pergi ke sebuah stesen minyak untuk mendapatkan Alat Pemadam Api (APAK), tetapi pekerja di stesen tersebut tidak mengizinkan.......... Menurut "passer-by", beliau boleh menyelamatkan mangsa sekiranya mendapat APAK kerana ketika itu api masih kecil dan mangsa tersepit....."

Or you can read the English version here in The Star

How did you feel when you read the above statement? How much does it cost to re-fill a fire extinguisher? Less than RM100. That was how much the value of the poor woman's life was...Florina a/k Joseph, 27. Burnt alive mind you. I wont want to have been there, looking and hearing the moans and pleas of a woman being burn alive. Too traumatic.

On the other hand, the crime rate against petrol stations are so high, that this genuine plea for assistance was looked upon with such suspicion. However I wonder, if all the fire extinguishers were kept inside behind locked doors, and not at the fuel pumps, wouldn't that create a certain delay in reaction time if a fire were to break out while someone is pumping fuel? If the argument is that the fire extinguishers were taken indoors only at night, does that mean it is much safer to pump fuel during the day? Hmmmm......my theory is...actually they are more afraid of robbers using it to break through their glass window than having it stolen.

I have seen people (even public transport) who has fire extinguisher for their car. Very good indeed....provided they also know how to use it in an emergency fire. A true story...a middle aged man physically threw the whole fire extinguisher into the fire coz he thought that was the 'right' way to do it....funny but true....don't underestimate the power of 'fear' and 'panic'....really powerful stuff.

 If indeed they have fire extinguisher in the car, and they know how to operate it....the next important question is...where did they placed it? The most convenient and common place people put it is in the trunk of the car...lots of boot space right? WRONG. The best place for you to put it is somewhere within the normal reach of the driver e.g. under the driver's seat (the front part...underneath the hips). Why you may ask? 

This is because in the 'unlikely event'....(phrase most used by PADI, hahaha) ..... of a fire and the driver is trapped (tersepit), he or she can reach it and douse any fire threatening to burn him or her while waiting for external assistance. Don't be a wise guy (or gal :D)  and ask me what if the whole car is burning? If that's the case, even a fire engine would take precious minutes to tackle that....sish!!!  ...and for god's sake, please get smokers far, far away. I know it sounds like common sense, but I have seen people actually smoking while walking around an overturned bus incident. Idiots.....

 You can learn interactively on what to do in an emergency by going to the Malaysian Civil Defence (or JPAM - Jabatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia) interactive e-learning website by clicking here.  

Moral of the story - Write down 'a portable fire extinguisher for the car' in your 'things to immediately buy once I can afford it' list. If I were you, I shut down the PC/laptop now and head for the nearest shop to get it. 

Hmmm...oh shit, I forgot to put mine back in after taking it out to service my car....opps! how embarrassing :(           Jangan marah aaa!!!