Fire brigade gears up for Diwali

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 18

The fire brigade is well prepared to deal with any untoward incident during Diwali celebrations.

According to Fire Station Officer Krishan Lal Kakkar, the department has adequate manpower as 52 persons have joined the department from the PESCO (Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation) on contract basis. Moreover, 25 trainees from the fire department would also be on duty.

He said the department received six fire tenders from the Central Government a few months back. “These in fact are multi-tenders due to their capability to douse the fire from different sources. These use different chemicals for different kinds of fire,” said another employee. For instance, carbon dioxide is used for oil fire, abc cylinder for gas, in addition to using foam along with water for other kinds of fire, he added.

The officials said water hotline in the congested areas had also been checked. “These are checked regularly, but as fire incidents tend to be more during Diwali celebrations due to bursting of crackers, we have checked these better,” another official said.

The department hopes that the restriction of time for bursting of crackers from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm by the Punjab and Haryana High Court would also help prevent fire incidents. “If people cooperate, the late night fire incidents that happen due to firecrackers can be prevented,” a fireman said.