New portable balloon light towers to help Ludhiana firefighters douse flames at night

In a step towards fire brigade upgrade, the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) has purchased five inflatable balloon light towers to facilitate firefighting operations

In a step towards fire brigade upgrade, the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) has purchased five inflatable balloon light towers to facilitate firefighting operations at night.

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The portable light towers, which have been purchased for Rs 11.50 lakh, come with an attached generator set. A demonstration of the lights was given to mayor Balkar Sandhu and MC officials on Thursday evening.

The MC officials said that the system consists of an in-built genet, two blowers, metal halide lamp. When the genset is switched on, the blowers inflate the cloth up to a height of 4.5 metres from the ground level, following which the lamp is switched on which illuminates up to 1,000 sq ft area.

MC superintending engineer Rajinder Singh said the lights have been purchased under the smart city project and will prove of great help to the firefighters who struggle in the absence of light during night operations.

Sub-fire officer Navrang Singh said, “When a fire breaks out, the power supply to that area is snapped. It becomes difficult to douse the flames and rescue people in the absence of proper lighting. We have to switch on the headlights of our vehicles or fire tenders. One light each has been allocated to five fire stations in the city. This is a useful infrastructural upgrade.”

“The department is also working to purchase hydraulic platform, water bowser, fire safety suits, life/heat detectors, advanced rescue tender, mini fire tender, multiple gas detectors, hydraulic combi tool, victim location camera with breaching system, quick response vehicle, portable fire pump, communication system among other items at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore, as part of the city’s fire brigade upgrade plan,” said the mayor.