Firemen meet hots up

Representatives from all fire brigades will meet on Nov 21 to exchange safety ideas

Firemen meet hots up

Representatives from all fire brigades will meet on Nov 21 to exchange safety ideas

Some of the 200 firemen who helped in rescue operations at the Taj during 26/11 will speak at a workshop organised by the BMC for the fire brigade.

Apart from handling extraordinary situations like the terror attacks, the workshop on November 21 will also focus on challenges the fire brigade faces today and maintenance of safety equipment.

Representatives from all the fire brigades falling under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mira Bhayander and Kalyan Dombivli will be present.

Three sessions

M B Deshmukh of the State Fire Advisory, which heads all the fire brigades, said, "The workshop will be divided into three sessions.

The first will be on fire protection measures. These days, the fire brigade has lot of things to do apart from fighting fire. We also have to help out in, for example, a train mishap."

The other two sessions will concentrate on educating firemen about the new Maharashtra Fire Prevention Life Safety Act 2006.

"The workshop will also have experts on oil fires. We will discuss oil safety guidelines since Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra have a good amount of hydrocarbon stocking and precaution should be taken to avoid repeat of the Jaipur oil fire," said Deshmukh.

Added Manisha Mhaiskar, additional municipal commissioner, "The workshop will be broadly about challenges faced by the fire brigade in modern times like high rise buildings."

Uday Tatkare, chief fire officer, Mumbai Fire Brigade, said, "We had prepared an 11-point recommendation after 26/11, which will help five-star hotels in case of sudden fire on a large scale.

These recommendations will be shared with other teams."

MiD DAY Impact

After MiD DAY had reported on November 1 that the sprinkler system at the Taj is not in place, a hotel official has said that all the recommendations of the fire brigade will be met by the end of February.

The Taj had not separated its sprinkler system and main water supply to enable efficient fire-fighting.

After the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the Mumbai Fire Brigade had prepared an 11-point recommendation on security measures that will be beneficial to five-star hotel. Mumbai firemen will share these with other fire brigades. Some of them are:

1. Carpets, curtains, furniture, runners and suspenders used for false ceiling should be made of non-combustible material or be treated with fire-retardant materials. The fire spreads fast due to heavily furnished rooms. This proved to be the biggest challenge on 26/11.

2. Providing guests with an extra key, which can used to open the windows from inside in case of an emergency.

3. The word Exit should be in bold red letters and be placed on every entrance and exit inside the building. The guests and staffs should be well versed with the interior layout of the hotel to facilitate easy evacuation.

4. Nothing should be stored near sensitive areas like electrical wiring, as it creates obstacle.

5. Security staff in hotel should adequately train their fire fighting personnel to effectively handle fire-fighting equipment during any emergency situation. The hotel authorities should keep all fire handling equipment in pristine condition.

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