The College organizes a seminar on fire prevention and firefighting methods in buildings and facilities.
Under the patronage of Professor Dr. Ahmed El-Menshawy, University President, and Professor Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Adawy, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development, and under the supervision of Professor Dr. Khaled Salah, Dean of the College, and Professor Dr. Salwa Abdel Rahman Megahed, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development, the College organized a public seminar on fire prevention and firefighting methods in buildings and facilities on Monday, May 18, 2026. The seminar featured presentations by Professor Dr. Mohamed Abu El-Qassem, former Dean of the College, and Professor Dr. Nabil Yassin Abdel Shafi, former Director of the Quality Assurance Unit, who addressed various aspects related to fire prevention within buildings and facilities.
The seminar was attended by Professor Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Adawy, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development, along with several faculty members, department heads, teaching assistants, community representatives, and attendees from outside the university.
In his address, Professor Dr. Mohamed Adawy, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development, emphasized the significant role the college plays in raising awareness about fire hazards and the importance of preparedness for dealing with them. He also stressed the need to repeat the seminar across the university and to publish a guide or brochures containing the seminar's recommendations for distribution throughout the university.
The Dean of the College, Professor Dr. Khaled Salah, explained that this seminar is one in a series presented by the College's Community Service and Environmental Development sector. These seminars aim to raise awareness of environmental and societal issues and their engineering solutions, as part of the College's strategic plan for the years 2026-2030. Today's seminar is particularly important because it focuses on protection against potential fire hazards due to the summer season and generally high temperatures, which create an increased risk of fires. This necessitates general preparedness and vigilance. The seminar included a mock evacuation drill to train the college's workshop staff on evacuation procedures in the event of fires or disasters. Professor Dr. Mohamed Aboul-Qassem and Professor Dr. Nabil Yassin expressed their gratitude to the lecturers for their participation in the seminar. His Excellency also expressed his gratitude to the university administration, headed by Professor Dr. Ahmed El-Menshawy, the university president, and Professor Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Adawy, the vice president for community service and environmental development, for their support of all the activities organized by the college in the field of community service and environmental development.
Concluding Recommendations of the Symposium: Fire Prevention and Control in Buildings and Facilities
The symposium emphasized that the safety of lives and property is a top priority, and that fire prevention is a shared responsibility between facility owners, their management, and regulatory authorities, in accordance with the provisions of Civil Protection Law No. 148 of 1959 and its amendments, and Egyptian Fire Code 203-2019.
The symposium recommended that all establishments adhere to the following:
- Implementing the requirements of the Egyptian fire code in its three stages: design, implementation, and operation.
- Conducting periodic maintenance of alarm systems, automatic extinguishing, manual fire extinguishers, and fire networks, by approved companies, while maintaining maintenance records for presentation to the competent authorities.
- Preventing random storage in escape corridors and exits, and separating dangerous materials into warehouses that comply with technical requirements.
At the level of organization and readiness, the symposium recommended the following:
- Forming an internal emergency committee in each facility that includes an evacuation team and a primary firefighting team, provided that they are trained theoretically and practically twice a year in coordination with the Civil Protection Department.
- Posting evacuation plans and self-illuminating information signs on all floors, and ensuring that emergency exits are free of any obstructions around the clock.
- Conduct a mock evacuation experiment at least once every 6 months, and document its results and observations.
- Providing manual firefighting equipment appropriate to the type of hazards in the facility, and training workers to use it.
- Ensuring the ability of civil protection vehicles and equipment to reach the facility, and ensuring the validity of water sources and fireboxes.
The symposium also recommends:
- Appointing a qualified occupational safety and health official in each facility, who will be responsible to the administration for implementing these recommendations.
- Conducting an internal monthly self-inspection, and submitting a report of observations and corrective actions to senior management.
