Fire Service to employ latest tech to deal with Capital infernos

New Delhi: To deal with the thousands of illegal factories and fire incidents in the national capital, the Delhi Fire Service is constantly upgrading itself both technically and manually. From made in Germany to make in India, the DFS is not leaving any stone unturned to upgrade itself to deal with the rising fire incidents in the Capital.

Lakhs of people from various states come every year to Delhi with the aim to improve their living conditions but they get trapped in the factories as workers. Whenever a fire incident is reported from such areas the fire tenders are unable to reach the accident site immediately due to the narrow and crowded alleys and the rescue operation gets delayed.

To tackle the problem of narrow alleys, the DFS has now introduced two firefighting robots that will be able to navigate the narrow lanes, reach spaces inaccessible to humans and perform tasks too risky for people.

"These robots will also be capable of releasing high water pressure at the rate of 2,400 litres per minute. The wireless remote attached to this robot is capable of controlling the spray of water," said a senior DFS official.

The official said that four more fire fighting robots will be inducted soon in the fleet.

The DFS has also introduced a bike and SUVs for easy access and manoeuvring in narrow lanes.

These bikes will be deployed at Ambedkar Nagar, Chandni Chowk, Sabzi Mandi, Ghanta Ghar, Paharganj, Shiela cinema and Gandhi Nagar while the firefighting SUVs will remain positioned at Connaught Place and Geeta Colony.

In order to negotiate the congested lanes and heavy traffic, the Delhi Fire Service fleet has added a water mist system that is mounted on bikes (or MCFR). It has two water cylinders which the firemen have to ultimately carry on their back during the firefighting operation. Firefighters will also soon get high-tech 360 degrees rotating equipment which can zigzag like a snake through narrow lanes, said Atul Garg, Director of Delhi Fire Services.

The devices can be controlled remotely to attend to fire incidents in Delhi. This modern equipment is expected to reduce the threat faced by these daredevils and increase their capacity to rescue people trapped on buildings in congested areas.

The DFS has also introduced fully-automatic articulated turntable ladders, imported from Germany to tackle fires and conduct rescue operations in high-rises.

"With combined simultaneous movements, the turntable ladder is an extremely useful vehicle for all types of firefighting and rescue operations, especially in high-rise buildings," the official said.

The turntable ladder provides a working height of up to 32 meters and its telescopic section jacks open wide up to 4.9 meters (Vario jacking safety system), making it useful for narrow lanes.

Display indications and computer monitoring is provided for an easy and safe operation. The output of the monitor is 1,800 litres per minute at a pressure of 10 bar with a 50-meter throw and water piping with a capacity of up to 2,500 litres per minute.