3 key obstacles to fighting blaze

Unplanned urbanisation, fast depleting natural water reservoirs and owners' indifference to ensuring adequate fire-fighting equipment at their buildings and markets are the three key reasons why firefighters in the capital have a tough time during rescue operations.

Due to lack of proper urban planning, many city roads are just six to 10 feet wide. They are too narrow for the fire-fighting vehicles, said fire service officials.

For example, they said, most of the roads in Old Dhaka and some others at Kazipara, Shewrapara, Taltala, Kafrul, Tejgaon, Begunbari, Pirerbagh and Sabujbagh are so narrow that the vehicles cannot even enter the areas.

Haphazard electric wires over the roads in old Dhaka also create obstacles to the movement of the vehicles. Again, there is no separate emergency way for the vehicles to reach the spot in case of fire.

“We also faced water crisis during the fire at the DCC market as there was no water reservoir or fire pumps near the building,” Maj AKM Shakil Newaz, director (operations and maintenance) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Daily Star.

A devastating fire broke out at the market in Gulshan-1 on Monday. Over 300 shops were gutted and a portion of the market collapsed in the incident.

For dousing the blaze, the firefighters had to collect water from a lake which was around 700 metres away, Shakil said, adding that the natural water reservoirs in the city were depleting fast.

It took around 40 minutes for the firefighters to set up six pumps and draw the water from the lake. But in the meantime, they were continuing their operation with their other fire engines, he said.

A fire-fighting vehicle can carry around 3,000 litres of water at a time. The water runs out in just 10 to 15 minutes.

Talking about the issue, another fire service official suggested the two city corporations need to set up water reservoirs at different parts of the city. He said those would help firefighters immensely.

Just around 45 years ago, he said, the city had 26 natural water reservoirs for the fire fighters, apart from numerous other ponds and canals. However, most of those have been filled up over the years.

Though fire pumps are very necessary for markets and high rise buildings, most of them do not have them.

Shakil said ensuring in-built fire equipment in such establishments has to be mandatory as firefighters need some time before reaching the spot due to traffic.

A market or high-rise building should be equipped with fire extinguishers, hose reel, sprinklers and heat or smoke detector for fighting fire initially.

Talking about other issues creating hindrance to the rescue operation, the fire service official named lack of public awareness about fire safety and proper training for the firefighters.

“Though a citizen is supposed to call the nearby fire station for help immediately after a fire breaks out, we came to know about the fire at the DCC Market from the Bhatara Police Station.

“We could have acted sooner had we been contacted directly from the spot [by anyone witnessing the fire],” Shakil said.

There is almost no awareness about fire safety among many people. Both government and private organisations should conduct awareness programmes among their employees. The media can also play a vital role in raising the awareness.

“Many people don't even know the phone number of the fire station in their area,” he said, adding that such lack of awareness hinders the rescue drive.

Auto shutdown systems or circuit breakers for power connections in buildings and markets are quite useful during fire incidents, Shakil said.

Fire officials said owners of many shopping complexes and markets in the city have violated rules of the city corporation as they did not keep enough space between their shops for the movement of firefighters.

There are 316 fire stations in the country. Of them, 19 are inside the Dhaka metropolitan area.

Some 8,000 people are currently working at the Fire service and Civil Defence that has 103 fire trucks, 114 tow trucks, 260 pumps, 26 fire and rescue vehicles and 14 motorcycles, said sources at the service.