E-Paper
No more high-rise buildings in Pune, till we are fire-ready, pleads fire brigade
One of the basic requirements for any fire brigade to fight fire incidents in high-rise buildings, above 100 metres vertical length, is the number of snorkels it has. A snorkel is a platform or bucket attached onto a mechanically bending arm installed onto a fire truck. This helps the fire brigade officials reach the top where the fire has occurred. However, currently, the city fire department has only two snorkels with them, having capacity to deal with fire incidents up to a vertical limit of 100 metres.
Sky is the limit, quite literally, for our constantly developing city as it is set to rise further with the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) proposing to allow vertical growth of the city, which is currently restricted at 100 metres. However, this poses a serious problem to the fire brigade of the city and hence, the Pune fire brigade department has advised the civic body to first look towards developing the fire department and only then, allow construction of high-rise buildings.
One of the basic requirements for any fire brigade to fight fire incidents in high-rise buildings, above 100 metres vertical length, is the number of snorkels it has. A snorkel is a platform or bucket attached onto a mechanically bending arm installed onto a fire truck. This helps the fire brigade officials reach the top where the fire has occurred. However, currently, the city fire department has only two snorkels with them, having capacity to deal with fire incidents up to a vertical limit of 100 metres.
In an interview to HT, chief fire officer of PMC, Prashant Ranpise, said, “We are not against developing high-rise buildings in the city. However, as we are also one of the major stakeholders while giving the no objection certificates (NOC) to developers, our limitations must also be considered by the civic body.”
Ranpise said, “Currently, we have only two snorkels which are used to combat fire incidents if any, for buildings above 70 metres. As of now, there are 25 buildings over 70 metres in the city. However, if the number increases, we will need more snorkels for combat operations.”
Also, these snorkels are stationed in the old city area while most high-rises are located in the suburban part of the city, which can make it difficult for snorkels to reach the destination given congested roads, added Ranpise.
The fire department has cited illegal encroachments and parking problems in the city as one of the major reasons for the delay in reaching their destinations.
Ranpise said, “The civic body has turned a deaf ear to our consistent requests over the years. We have been writing to the PMC since the past three years regarding the delays we are compelled to face owing to illegal encroachments and wrong side parking of private vehicles. However, all the requests made by the fire brigade have gone unheard,” he said.
Pune fire brigade in numbers
Number of fire incidents reported daily: 3-4.
Number of fire stations run by the PMC: 13
Fleet of fire fighting vehicles:
Snorkels: 2
Fire engines: 22
Water mist mini fire tenders: 11
Hydraulics platforms: 3
Rescue vans: 3
Water tankers (with water browser): 10
Ultra-high pressure mission vehicle: 1
Foam tender: 1
Jeeps: 15
Motorcycles: 6
Hearse cars: 3
Ambulances: 7
Fire brigade control room number for Pune: 101
