The capability of the firefighters to control and extinguish fires has increased many folds in Bangladesh with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s policy to better equip this life-saving service.
“Just before 2009 when this government came to power, we didn’t have the capacity to send required units to fight major fires. Now we can deploy adequate teams with modern equipment,” a spokesperson of the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) told Bangladesh Post. “Coordination among the services has also increased”.
This was evident in recent fire and explosion incidents in the capital Dhaka.
Coming to power, Sheikh Hasina made the pledge to set up at least one fire station in every upazila with modern facilities. She herself provides direct instructions and monitors it constantly in major calamities.
There were 204 fire stations in 2009 when she formed the government. Now the country has 493 fire stations with the plan to increase it to 735.
For the convenience of service users, the Fire Service has already introduced the five-digit phone number '16163'.
To reduce the incidence of emergencies and minimize their impact on society, the department promotes community safety and preparedness through public awareness campaigns.
Fire incidents and natural calamities are common in Bangladesh. Rescue operations are being carried out as quickly as possible in response to a disaster, particularly in the case of the fire incident, through the coordination of various government services.
But the Fire Service and Civil Defense is the first responder to natural or man-made calamities to save life and property.
Some 26,291 fire incidents occurred across Bangladesh in 2022, according to the FSCD. The firefighters recovered property worth over Tk1678 crore during the rescue operations in those incidents.
Apart from modernizing the service, the prime minister’s different steps have enhanced the morale of the firefighters. As a result, the ability to handle any disaster has increased significantly as compared to the past.
For example, to eliminate gender discrimination, the name of the post of ‘fireman’ was changed to ‘firefighters’ at the Prime Minister's instruction. Amendments have been made to the recruitment rules so that women can apply for firefighter positions.
For training purposes, the fire service has already acquired five acres of land for the establishment of four training complexes at divisional headquarters and five divisional headquarters.
For building the 'Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Fire Academy', the Awami League government has already acquired 100.92 acres of land in Munshiganj near Dhaka.
This academy with its state-of-the-art training facility will give a further boost to the service.
The construction of a modern command and control center has been completed at the Dhaka headquarters, which will be commissioned soon.
A temporary training complex has been constructed on 16.313 acres of land acquired for the construction of a training-based fire station in Rajuk Purbachal.
In order to increase the capacity of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, the government has already purchased fire dousing and rescue equipment worth Tk16.661 billion.
This collection includes 18 turntable ladders and APLs, 33 fire and rescue tenders, 1170 portable fire extinguishing pumps (small to large), 331 water vehicles, 35 emergency 12 foam tenders, 344 towing vehicles, 51 rescue command vehicles, 9 fire fighting boats (fire floats), 162 generators and 112 air compressors.
The Prime Minister gave the department three jumbo cushions for use in rescue operations during fire incidents.
The devices will enable individuals trapped on the floors of a building that has been affected by an accident to jump out and save themselves.
As a result of the procurement of 142 ambulances, the number of ambulances in the department has increased to 192 from 50.
They have a rescue capacity of 68 meters now, up from 47 meters.
The government is also considering reorganising the Fire Service's organisational structure. The approved manpower of the Fire Service has increased to 14,668 from 6,175 and will further increase to 21,267 if the proposed structure is implemented. There are now 268 warehouse inspectors instead of 50.
