Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services

Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services
We Serve to Save
Agency overview
Established 1964[1]
Fire chief Sri. M.N.REDDI, IPS
EMS level BLS
Facilities and equipment
Stations 168
Website
www.karnataka.gov.in/ksfes/Pages/home.aspx

The Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services department is a department of the Government of Karnataka that is the foremost disaster management body in Karnataka, India.[2][3]

Background

A fire truck in Bangalore

All buildings in the state are required to obtain a compliance certificate for fire safety from the department.[4] The department has the right to recommend withdrawal of licences to commercial structures that do not have proper fire fighting equipment on their premises.[5]

The department has a sanctioned strength of 6,448 personnel.[6]

In 2009, the government announced that all taluks in the state would have fire stations.[7] As of 2011, the department had 168 fire stations across Karnataka,[8] while 31 more were sanctioned in 2012.[9] In 2011, Infosys built a 21,417-square-metre (230,530 sq ft) fire station at Hebbal, Mysore at a cost of ₹ 45 million for the department.[10]

The department also owns rescue vans in Bangalore, Mangalore, Gulbarga, Mysore, Mandya, Chamrjanagar, and Hassan.[11][12]

The department owns a pumper that was built by Dennis Brothers and delivered to the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore in 1925 from England. It is the only petrol driven vehicle in the fleet and is brought out only during parades and rallies.[13] The department also owns a Bronto Skylift to reach the higher storeys of tall buildings in Bangalore.[14] The department owns similar equipment in the cities of Hubli and Mangalore.[15] Due to the lack of working fire hydrants in Bangalore city, the department has acquired two high capacity water tankers to send in case of massive fires.[16]

The department was one of the rescue agencies during the 2010 Mangalore air crash.[17]

A fire station in Mangalore

Criticism

A report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India stated that the department was ill-prepared to handle emergency situations due to the lack of standard operating procedures.[18]

The department relies on groundwater reservoirs of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board to fill water due to the lack of fire hydrants in Bangalore city. 400 fire hydrants have been reported to have gone missing since the 1980s.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Department of Fire Services starts blog". 12 October 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "About The Department". KARNATAKA STATE FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES DEPARTMENT. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Fire brigade doesn't have an expert diver". Times of India. Bangalore. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  4. 1 2 Ramani, Chitra (24 February 2013). "A third of city's high rises have no NOCs from Fire Department". Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "45 fire stations to be set up in State". 18 February 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "AABOUT KARNATAKA STATE FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES DEPARTMENT" (PDF). 5 September 2011. p. 4. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "All taluks in State to have fire stations soon". The Hindu. Madikeri. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Seven more fire stations to come up in city". The Hindu. Bangalore. 20 February 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "State to get 31 new fire stations". The Hindu. Mysore. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "State-of-the-art fire station complex inaugurated at Hebbal". The Hindu. Mysore. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  11. ↑ "Bangalore may get advanced fire-fighting vehicle". 30 May 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  12. ↑ Bennur, Shankar (12 December 2011). "Several districts in State to get modern fire rescue vans". Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  13. ↑ Govindarajulu, Priyanka (13 April 2011). "This Dennis is far from being a menace". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  14. ↑ MT, Shiva Kumar (14 April 2011). "High-tech ladder takes Fire Services Department to new heights". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  15. ↑ "Hi-tech fire engine for Mangalore". The Hindu. Mangalore. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  16. ↑ Rao, Mohit (24 February 2012). "Fire hydrants now a showpiece". The Hindu. Bangalore. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  17. ↑ M, Raghava (22 May 2010). "Role of fire services in the Mangalore air crash". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "Karnataka fire service dept woefully ill-prepared: CAG". 1 April 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
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