The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Fire stations opened in 16 slums

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 07, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Fire stations opened in 16 slums

By Sangeeth Kurian

CHENNAI, APRIL 6. ``Take thatched huts, throw in a scorching sun and add water crisis: You have the recipe for disaster this summer. With the onset of summer, sudden fires will become more frequent in the city,'' says S.K. Dogra, director, Fire and Rescue Services.

To meet exigencies, the Fire Service department has opened round-the-clock temporary fire stations in 16 vulnerable slums. ``We have formed a special team of commandos trained in rescue and fire fighting operations,'' says Mr. Dogra.

Around 500 safety volunteers will be identified who will assist the fire service personnel in crowd control, propagate safety messages and alert them about fire-outbreaks in their respective areas, he says. The directorate is also stepping up its awareness drive in slums through movies and mock drills.

As per the directorate's statistics, the number of fire outbreaks rose by 16 cases in 2003 from the previous year, taking the tally to 1,871 cases.

The Fire Advisory Committee, constituted by the Government of India, classifies fire-outbreaks into three categories, small medium and serious. A small fire is one in which there is a loss of property up to Rs. 10,000. In a medium fire, the loss estimated is between Rs. 10,000 and 50,000. And a serious fire is one where there is loss of property above Rs. 50,000 or human life.

This March, 120 cases of `small fire' were registered, up by 38 cases from the previous year.

According to him, the rise in number of small fires should be of no major concern as most of such calls for help are due to unnecessary fears. ``Of late, people have become prompt in alerting even seemingly insignificant cases like burning of garbage or dry grass,'' he says. ``Since any fire has the potential to become a major one, we do not want to take any chances, though around 20 per cent of such fires would have been extinguished even before we reach the spot.''

Therefore, Mr. Dogra says, the focus of his directorate is to prevent medium and serious fires. ``In the last two years, we have been successful in bringing down the number of serious and medium fires during summer to manageable levels. This year, so far, only one serious and two medium fires have been reported in the city.''

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section

Water in Chitlapakkam lake delays desilting work

Pharmaceutical company bags community service award

Plea to stop school building construction in coastal zone

Fire stations opened in 16 slums

Financial constraints hinder replacement of old MTC buses

Scribe assaulted in court hall

Recognise Tilak Ghat, says Gandhi Darshan Kendra

Jewels burgled

Student killed as motorcycles collide

Fatal fall for man

Around The City

In Chennai Today