Increasing number of fire accidents in the city highlights the need of fire safety preparedness.
Bengaluru city has only a third of the fire stations it requires. According to the Annual Report 2022-23 of the Fire and Emergency Services Department, there are only 20 fire stations in Bengaluru city, where there should be 70 to 75 of them.
The future plan of the annual report 2014 published by the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services (KSFES) department suggested that, “One fire station should cover 10 sq. km of geographical area.” Accordingly, Bengaluru city which has a total area of 709 km2, should ideally have about 71 fire stations.The report also suggests the total number of fire stations in Bengaluru city ought to be 79, based on average speeds in various zones, the response time and the area coverage. There is also a vacancy of 1787 staff members across the state, according to the 2023 report.
Sriram, a resident of Seegehalli said, “The nearest fire station to my place is about 12 km away. Given the city’s traffic, a fire engine would take more than 30 minutes to reach. Also, if the fire incident happens somewhere in the residential streets, it would take more time as the lanes are narrow and have several speed breakers.” He added that there should be a fire station for every four to five kilometres.
An official from the KSFES department said, “The department is planning to build more fire stations as the city is expanding. One fire station for Bangalore city is under construction and will be completed by the end of this year.” He added that the department is trying to manage with the existing fire stations.
The KSFES report also suggests that the response time to a fire accident should be a maximum of three minutes in high hazards areas, and in other areas it should not exceed five minutes. However, the official said that, though the rescue team leaves the fire station within 60 seconds of fire calls, the actual time taken to reach the spot depends on the distance and traffic congestion.
Cheryl Rebello, Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Carlton, the country’s first fire safety community, said that setting up of new fire stations is not in pace with the development and growth of the city. “The lack of required fire stations makes the citizens more vulnerable unless they are within a close radius of a fire station,” she said.
She added, “Though land availability is a challenge, there are creative solutions to it. The government should try public-private partnership (PPP) models in which the space to operate a fire station is provided by private corporates and the operations are managed by the fire department. However, one is yet to see such innovations.” She also suggested that a decentralised preparedness mechanism wherein public spaces are equipped with fire safety devices should be ensured.
Urban planner and designer, Vikram Bhat, said, “Fire safety should be given utmost importance and policy makers should properly allocate land for the operation of fire stations.” He added that the fire department should give public awareness about fire safety and preparedness.
Bengaluru has seen a 12 percent increase in fire accidents in 2023, compared to 2022. The fire accident in a bus-building workshop in Veerabhadra Nagar, a cylinder-blast fire at Mudpipe rooftop café in Koramangala and the fire at a cracker godown in Attibele are some of the recent fire incidents in the city.
