Safety more than a drill for Fire Services department

The instances of fire accidents in the city have come down drastically in the last three years, with the Fire and Rescue services recording only four calls in 2015. They had responded to 24 calls in 2014 and to 65 fire calls in 2013 during Deepavali. 

The department launches awareness programmes, about 15 days ahead of Deepavali, giving safety tips to school and college students and instructs them over the measures they can take while bursting crackers. The officials distribute pamphlets, conduct audio-video presentations and also educate the public regarding a safe celebration of Deepavali. 

“The instances of fire accidents have been showing a downward trend. People are more responsible these days and ensure they have a safe Diwali,” Shahul Hameed, Joint Director of Fire and Rescue Services, told DT Next. However, the department is not taking things lightly and is gearing up for the festival. It has identified 34 fire-prone areas and has also erected outposts there. This is in addition to the existing 39 fire stations on surveillance  in the city. Similarly, the department has also deployed mobile patrolling units to prevent any untoward incident. 

In addition, the Fire control room has a real time monitor which can identify the area from the call is made and can deploy the fire tender from the nearest spot. The department has also written to the Chennai Metro Water and Sewerage Supply Board (CMWSSB) to ensure adequate water supply to extinguish crackers-related fires that could occur. The department control room already has a direct, microphone link connection with the Metro Water control room. In case of any emergency, the message is passed on to Metro Water immediately. “We have checked all the equipment and have made sure that there is no last minute issue, like lack of diesel supply for the vehicles or malfunctioning equipment, while rushing to the emergency spot. I have also instructed my district fire officers to verify and update their existing systems,” Shahul Hameed said. 

Safety instructions have also been issued to fire cracker store owners. There are several agencies involved in the monitoring of these shops. Fire tenders have been placed near the main market areas.

The Police Housing Corporation, which is the nodal agency for carrying out repair works for the Fire Service department, had almost destabilised 101, the fire control number. Fire service sources confirmed that several requests to check the wiring and connections to the control room to the Police Housing Corporation had gone unattended and finally they had to deploy a private agency to get the wiring changed. “BSNL officials came in and assisted the private agency to replace all the existing wiring. Now we have corrected the technical glitches in 101 service. However, users of some private mobile operators still cannot call 101 directly,” a department official said. Meanwhile, the department has written letters to all private mobile service providers, directing them to link with BSNL to give direct call facility to 101.“When subscribers of some private mobile networks dial 101, they may find the phone ringing at the other end. But the control room may not get the call at all. This is because these private mobile service providers have not been linked with BSNL as all calls to the control room are routed through BSNL,” the official added.