THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government's proposal to set up mini fire and rescue stations in the city and the setting up of a new fire station and rescue service at Ulloor remain on paper. In the wake of the recent fire accident in the city, the need to have such mini fire and rescue stations stationed at vulnerable spots have assumed significance.
According to the government proposal, the mini fire tenders were proposed to come up at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, the Secretariat and Chalai market. But the project reached nowhere, with the inability to acquire land.
“There was a proposal to set up mini fire and rescue stations to ensure our presence in these crucial areas. The inability to identify appropriate plots is a primary reason,” said M Noushad, regional fire officer.
“Yesterday upon alert we could reach the spot on time. But not all will alert if smoke is spotted. If we have mini fire stations, we will be able to reach the spot quicker and intervene.
If we are stationed nearby, time lost in alerting can be avoided and the fire can be put out faster and effectively. Moreover, we will always be in the know were any such incidents to occur,” he says. Currently, there are four fire and rescue stations in the city. The stations are present at Chengalchoola, Kazhakkootam, Chackai, and Vizhinjam. On Tuesday, the fire broke at a shop at East Fort, at one of the busy stretches in the city.
“The shops are old and they lie jam-packed. So if a fire were to break out, there are more chances of it spreading and getting to douse the fire will also prove difficult. When there was a major fire break out years ago, a lot many shops needed to be broken into to get access to the shop which was on fire. Such mini fire stations save time. So having a fire station nearby is crucial considering the vulnerability of the place to fire accidents,” said Rafeeq A P P, president, Chalai main unit. In the recent past also the Chalai market had witnessed a few fire accidents.
“We were able to douse most of the fire before the fire tenders reached us. We are considering buying fire extinguishers in bulk and placing them at each shop,” says Rafeeq.
The main problem faced in the 2016 fire was rushing back to the fire stations and refilling the fire tenders, he states. “Having a fire station nearby can prevent such issues,” he says.