by GRACE JOHNSON
As the warmer months approach, Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) have stepped up their work with multicultural communities in delivering essential fire safety messages.
FRNSW attended the Community Safety Expo on Saturday to deliver important messages about fire safety to, with a key focus on Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities. At the expo, firefighters with Arabic, Greek and Vietnamese backgrounds spent time speaking with locals in their native language about fire safety.
Last year, a record 16 people were killed in structured fires across NSW. Out of the 16 fatalities, 12 were deemed ‘preventable’ by FRNSW investigators.
Almost a third of people living in New South Wales were born overseas, with 2 million people having a first language other than English, which is why FRNSW are making concerted efforts to ensure that there are no language barriers to critical fire safety messages.
People from multicultural backgrounds are not always familiar with bushfire safety and risk management. Coming from different countries and climates, people of a diverse background can find bushfire to be a foreign concept.
Fire and Rescue NSW Assistant Commissioner Paul McGuiggan said, “Explaining fire safety messaging in a way that simplifies the language used and the understanding of potential outcomes is crucial.”
“We need to make sure we are able to educate people from different backgrounds, in the language and concepts that make sense.”
Minister for Emergency Services and Member for Bankstown Jihad Dib commended FRNSW’s outreach efforts, saying “I can’t stress enough the importance of creating consistent messaging for people from all backgrounds.”
FRNSW are hoping that their education initiatives will prepare people from CALD communities for potential emergencies, helping to overcome knowledge and awareness barriers that might put them at risk.
