Fire service: Ill-fitted for tricky city fires

GBDESK//

Unplanned urbanisation over the last decade has worsened fire risks in the cities, but firefighters have not been given additional training and proper equipment so they can deal with the heightened threats and the changing nature of fire incidents.

This is also having an impact on the number of casualties and loss of properties in fires and other manmade and natural disasters.

The challenges for firefighters have increased in cities. They have to deal with traffic to get to the scene and often narrow streets make it difficult. Finding water on location has become harder. Almost every time there is a crowd of onlookers, which makes the firemen’s job even more difficult. Then there is the unknown – what type of fire they are dealing with.

The chemical-induced fire at the BM Depot in Sitakunda in July last year killed five firefighters. The firemen were not specialised to deal with such fires, said Brig Gen (retd) Ali Ahmed Khan, former director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD).

He told The Daily Star that the nature of fires and other disasters is changing and the firefighters must be trained for this.

According to the FSCD, 14 firemen were killed and 225 were injured on duty over the last five years.

There were 12,182 fires in 2009 and this number swelled to 24,102 last year, the FSCD says.

Officials and experts say fires in high-rises and chemical-induced fires are also on the rise.

Brig Gen (retd) Ali Ahmed said firefighters’ training remained virtually the same.

Even though the FSCD got some land in Munshiganj for a training academy but its construction work is yet to start.