NEW DELHI: Aiming to reduce the time taken to act on fire accidents, the Delhi government is working on a plan to establish fire stations inside the campuses of all big public and private hospitals, schools and even malls in the future.
According to the Delhi Fire Service department, the idea is to have small-to-medium-range fire fighting facilities at places of high footfall, which are prone to incidents of fire.
“Every fire starts small in the beginning. In Delhi the biggest hurdle we face often is to reach the spot in time. So the idea is to setup fire stations in all the big hospitals, schools and even malls so that timely help is given,” Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Service told this newspaper.
Earlier, Home Minister Satyendar Jain had directed the officials of Fire Department to upgrade the existing system to deal with fire incidents in Delhi government-run hospitals. Officials said modern fire control rooms will be set up to deal with such incidents. Additionally, 24x7 fire brigade vehicles will also be stationed at these facilities, including, GB Pant, LNJP and Guru Tegh Bahadur hospitals. The facility will be extended to smaller government and private hospitals in phases.
“The plan is being worked out by involving all stake holders. We have started with the pilot project from AIIMS. For the malls, we will be asking private owners to marks spaces to station fire brigades with
minimum staff,” added Garg.
Information available on the DFS website satates that in 2019-20, 31,157 fire calls were attended, 1,638 people were injured due to fire and 308 deaths due to fire were recorded. On an average DFS gets more than 30,000 calls per year, of which majority are fire related.
Small facilities at places with high footfall
The idea is to have small fire fighting facilities at places of high footfall, which are prone to fire incidents. On an average DFS gets more than 30,000 calls per year, of which majority are fire related