OWNERS of high-rise buildings have been told to regularly check fire prevention equipment installed in their premises to ensure that they are working properly. 

Beach Street Fire and Rescue Department officer-in-charge Hadzi Mohamed Yusoff said the department had found some of the equipment were not functioning well when they conducted their routine fire drill exercises. 

He said in the event of a fire, if the necessary equipment were not functioning well, then the firemen would face difficulties when carrying out their duties. 

He said this after a fire drill exercise was held at the Northam Tower at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Penang, recently. 

Hadzi, who was also the fire drill’s operations co-ordinator, said 17 firemen on three fire engines from the Beach Street, Perak Road and Bagan Jermal Fire and Rescue departments arrived minutes after the building’s fire alarm was trigged at 10.26am. 

As soon as they arrived, the firemen got out their water hoses and rushed inside the 31-storey building to fight the ‘fire’ at the 10th floor. Other firemen operated the skylift. 

Also present to supervise the exercise were the Perak Road Fire and Rescue Department operations officer V. Kumarasamy and the Bagan Jermal training zone officer Mohd Fisawal Yahaya. 

The one-hour operation caught the attention of motorists who slowed down their vehicles to get a closer look. 

The building’s manager Jimmy Yeoh said that this was the first time the fire drill was conducted at the building which opened last year.