The need for modern equipment and human resources was strongly felt when the fire fighters rushed for rescue operation side by side with the members of joint forces during the June 11 rain-induced devastating landslides and inundation.

Equipped with spades, axes and hosepipes the fire fighters looked simply helpless since the call for rescue operations started coming from different affected areas on the day.

Around 125 fire fighters from 12 fire stations in the port city and the districts were engaged in the round-the-clock rescue operation that continued until June 14 in the affected areas.

The fire fighters exhaust with limited manpower and equipment when they carry out operation to rescue landslide victims at Lalkhan Bazar, Kusumbagh and Pahartali Bazar area, waterlogged people at low-lying areas like Halishahar, Dewan Bazar, Hamzarbagh, Muradpur, Sulakbahar and many others who remained under waist-deep water until the next day.

Sirajul Islam Tarafder, Senior Station Officer (SSO) of Bayezid Fire Station, led a 20-member rescue team at Lebu Bagan, Kaichyaghona and Sekandar Colony in Chittagong Cantonment areas where landslides buried 71 people alive.

Sirajul said, "We could rescue 40 people alive and retrieve only several bodies from the debris until afternoon working side by side with the joint forces."

"We needed more human resources to dig out the bodies trapped in 10 to 20 feet deep debris with spades," he said.

“For lack of walky-talky we could not contact the higher officials to let them know the latest situation for necessary guidelines or instructions from them,” he said.

“We had to come to our vehicle kept some 200 yards away from the spots to contact the control room and high officials in divisional headquarters," he added.

Shortage of bulldozers and mobile crane or wreckers delayed rescue operations at Pahartali and Agrabad Choumuhani where wall collapse caused casualties on the day, said fire fighter Manik.

The fire fighters were forced to carry out rescue operation wading through chest-deep water or swimming in the inundated areas at Hamzarbag, Muradpur and Sulakbahar on June 11 as they had no portable boat.

Besides, the life-guns (equipment used for throwing floating ropes to rescue people caught up in strong current or being carried away by water) procured before the War of Liberation have ropes that lost longevity long before and left unused for long, said the fire fighters.

The department lacks in sufficient equipment like turntable ladder, snorkel, foam-tender, lighting unit, emergency tender, fire proof uniform, rescue rope required for both fire fighting and other rescue operation, they said.

It has only one snorkel at its Agrabad station in the port city against three required for the station.

There is no turntable ladder, which is indispensable for carrying out rescue operation in the high-rise buildings, for the department in the Chittagong division, said Subhash Chandra Devnath of Chandanpura Fire Station.

The only emergency tender, a vehicle equipped with around 350 different rescue equipment, was procured during Pakistan period for the Fire Service Headquarters at Agrabad, said Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan, Senior Station Officer of Agrabad Fire Station.

Of the rescue equipments of the Emergency Tender, around 300 have lost durability 10 to 12 years ago, he added,

There are 39 fire stations in greater Chittagong division. Of them, 14 are A-grade stations, 22 B-grade and three C-grade fire stations, sources said.

Some 596 fire fighters are working in these fire stations against the 698 approved posts.

Rashidul Islam Mazumder, deputy director of Fire Service, said it needs to double the number of human resources at the fire service stations to meet the present need.

"We could not sent sufficient number of fire fighters in many areas on June 11 to conduct rescue operation due to lack of human resources," he said.

He underscored the need for creating a reserve force of the fire fighters to respond instantly for rescue operation during natural calamities like that of June 11.