The Civil Defense here has defended its monitoring of safety measures at the city's schools, saying it has already suspended 22 schools for violations this year. Last year three schools were suspended for breaching safety regulations and not having the necessary emergency equipment, according to Brig. Gen. Abdullah Al-Jeddawi, Director of the Civil Defense in Jeddah. He added that the Civil Defense did not arrive late at the scene of the fire at the Bara'em Al-Watan Private Girls' School on Saturday. Al-Jeddawi said the Civil Defense has never stopped carrying out safety inspections at both male and female schools in the city. “We conduct ongoing inspections at all schools. Many times we suspend licenses and safety certificates of schools which don't follow safety procedures.” He added that the common violation committed by school administrations was making new additions to empty spaces such as roofs, small warehouses, laboratories, classes and mosques. According to Civil Defense regulations, a school should not make any inside changes to buildings because this hinders the work of rescue and firefighting teams, Al-Jeddawi explained. “We found some schools which had rooms on their roofs. We told these schools that their licenses won't be renewed because of this violation.” Some schools build classes, kitchens, laboratories and small warehouses on their roofs and this puts the lives of students and teachers in danger, Al-Jeddawi said. The roof of a school building should be an open area free of any concrete structures. “Violators won't be issued education licenses. A letter will be sent to the Department of Education detailing the violation. If the violator doesn't rectify the situation, fines will be imposed and the licenses will be suspended permanently.” Al-Jeddawi said that Civil Defense teams did not arrive late at the Bara'em Al-Watan School. They received a call on Saturday at 12.57 P.M. and teams from five different locations headed to the school, which was in a crowded area. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Sunday, the Makkah Region's Directorate of Civil Defense said that it has recordings to prove when the call was received and when rescue teams were dispatched. “The Civil Defense sent 23 fire squads, paramedics, and fire trucks with ladders, in addition to three helicopters. From the moment the call was received, a red alert was announced which means that there is a serious situation which requires the help of the Health Affairs, which sent ambulances and field paramedics. An emergency alert was announced at all hospitals and the Saudi Red Crescent Society,” said the statement. The statement added that the fire started in the basement and did not spread to upstairs floors. Only one firefighting unit was used to extinguish the blaze. A further seven firefighting squads were waiting outside. Most injuries were caused during the stampede of teachers and students. __
