312 fire incidents reported this year

Sukhmeet Bhasin
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, October 28

It seems that the major fire incidents in the recent past in the city have failed to wake up the Fire Department from its slumber.

As many as 312 fire incidents have taken place in the district so far this year. Despite this, many commercial establishments are running without getting fire safety certificate from the Fire Department.

Apart from this, many commercial establishments have not installed fire safety equipment that is must for such units.

However, the Fire Department has not taken any strict action against violators. It seems that residents are living under threat of major fire incident.

It has also come out that the shoe factory, which was gutted a few days ago at the industrial area, didn’t even have any fire extinguisher, forget about hydra equipment.

A majority of petrol pumps are seen violating the safety guidelines, putting lives of people at risk.

Most of the fuel stations have not taken the mandatory fire safety certificate from the fire brigade and nor the fire brigade officials have ever issued any notice to the petrol pump owners.

Some fuel stations, having large tanks of inflammable diesel and petrol, are situated close to residential colonies, hospitals and schools, which is a major threat to the public.

As the Army’s ammunition depot, thermal power plant, oil depots and various cotton and textile mills are located in the city and its periphery, a little negligence can cause huge loss.

The Fire Department is ill-equipped to handle fire incidents in high-rise buildings. It does not have equipment to douse flames in more than 40-ft high buildings.

District fire officer Jaswinder Singh said many buildings, including fuel stations, in the city had never got their fire safety certificate renewed from the department.

They get the certificate before inauguration, but they never get it renewed, which should be done every year.

He also stated that the shoe factory, which was gutted, did not have any fire extinguisher.

“We urge owners of industrial units to install hydra and full-proof fire-fighting system, but mostly they ignore our advice,” he added.