Ethiopian community receives fire safety lesson
It is hoped Tasmania's Ethiopian community will take some valuable lessons from a fire safety training day held yesterday.
About 80 adults and children took part in the training, organised by the Fire Service, the Migrant Resource Centre, and other government agencies.
They were taught basic fire safety skills like the need for working smoke alarms and electrical safety.
The Fire Service's Chris Tomes says the aim of the project was to teach members of the Ethiopian community fire safety skills most Tasmanians take for granted.
"We're trying to teach things like keeping items at least two metres away from the heater, making sure they have working smoke alarms, making sure they don't leave cooking unattended on the stove, so turn it off before you turn away, so general fire safety issues like that," he said.
Elisa Stute from the Migrant Resource Centre says it has been a huge learning curve for some.
"A lot of people would have lived in a refugee camp for up to 30 years sometimes, so they wouldn't even have had a house environment like when they're living here," she said.
"Also the climate is so different in Ethiopia, so it is a lot warmer there and many hazards like from a heater or from an electric blanket just don't exist."
The pilot project will be assessed and could be extended to other migrant communities.