Community Fire Safety programmes in Lebanon Karen Rutherford

Community Fire Safety programmes in Lebanon Karen Rutherford Nicky Thurston Dr Helen Underhill

Lebanon Over a million displaced people are currently registered in Lebanon Approximately 200, 000 displaced people live in Informal Tented Settlements (ITS) As of June 2016, there were over 2125 active ITS sites, typically ranging from 1 to 50 tents Sub-standard buildings (SSBs) are usually harder to reach for humanitarian agencies and have not been mapped to the same extent as ITS.

Understanding the context Operation Florian carried out a Fire Risk Reduction Assessment, July/August 2017, Published Jan 2017 The assessment was commissioned by Save the Children Lebanon in collaboration with the Lebanese Civil Defence (LCD)

Statistics Increasing numbers of fire incidents, injuries and fatalities in ITS and SSBs are being reported UNHCR Health Department showed that 120 displaced people were admitted with severe burns during 2015 (half from fire, half from scalding)

Reported fire reasons Electrical hazards Cooking practice Use of candles Smoking materials Fire setting by children Burning of waste Acts of arson Heating equipment

“The Hazard Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments conducted by the Lebanese Red Cross Disaster Management Unit revealed that across fifteen camps, fire was perceived by the local population, to be the joint second most concerning hazard after flooding. Reportedly even higher priority than health and child education. ”

Tell, Show, Do Developing and Embedding Learning QA Games Scaffolding Escape Plans Tackling Misconceptions Building Confidence Burns ITS Local NGO Staff Field Visits SSB Engineers, Shelter, WASH, security…

CONCLUSION: SOME REFLECTIONS TO TAKE FORWARD SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF FIRE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE GROUPS – POWER & KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION & EDUCATION What next? • Understanding the potential of child and women led community education • ‘Bottom-up’ fire education initiatives • Pedagogies of community-led fire education in informal urban contexts • Barriers to learning about and for fire risk and prevention • Various stakeholders: communities, NGOs, intra-govt. agencies etc. • Planning of ITS