RAWALPINDI, March 29: The performance of the local fire brigades has always been below the mark due to lack of planning, pre/post-fire research, professional training, proper fire- fighting equipment and absence of any fire services act by the government.

Talking to Dawn, Ghulam Mohammad Naz, President National Fire Brigade Association, Punjab, deplored the inefficiency of the policy-makers in implementing any fire services act. He said under the law, the municipal authorities were bound to provide fire cover to the people in return for the taxes paid by them. However, he said, owing to the absence of any fire services act, the citizens could not claim compensation from the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) for its failure in saving their property from fire.

According to the sources, the interior ministry in collaboration with a task force on fire had prepared Emergency Services Ordinance, 2002. The head of the task force Dr Rizwan Naseer had also presented the draft of the ordinance to the then interior minister Moinud Din Haider on May 25, 2002 followed by a thorough discussion by the fire experts. But since then there is no progress in this regard, the sources added.   A fire expert said the authorities had yet to prepare fire codes, which had always been the basis for framing and implementing laws on fire. He said the framing of fire laws was not impossible, as the fire laws of Bangladesh, the UK and United the States could be used as guideline.

He said there was an urgent need for establishing fire brigades at tehsil level able to coordinate with each other in case of emergency. Talking about the education of the fire- fighters, he said there was only one institution in Islamabad (National Institute of Fire Technology, Sitara Market) where no fire engineers could be produced or research of postgraduate level conducted.

He said there was no criterion for the selection of firemen and officers. He said most of the employees of the fire department seldom passed any physical or aptitude test. A good number of firemen and even some officers were either un-educated or semi-educated, he added. He said though the city was over- crowded with multi-storey buildings, very few of them followed the Building Code of Pakistan.

There are three fire brigades under tehsil municipal administration. These are located at Liaquat Bagh in front of Gordon College, Commercial Market, Satellite Town, and General Bus Stand, Pirwadhai. Their filling points are also situated close at hand. There is only one fire brigade for the Cantonment area at Gawalmandi.

Most of the areas of the city are situated far away from these filling points. As a result, the fire engines have to cover a lot of distance between the fire site and the filling points with less available time to put off fire.

According to the firemen, the city should have fire hydrants at a number of points to collect water and reach the fire sight within minimum possible time. They suggested that the authorities concerned with the help of the Water and Sanitation agency (WASA) should also install emergency valves at all the tubewells of the city to meet any emergency.

According to the firemen, only nine fire engines are available with the TMA fire brigades out of which two are out of order. The conditions in the cantonment are far more worse, they said.

“We lack standard uniforms and foam to extinguish fire. We have to use water to extinguish fire even if it is caused by oil, short-circuiting and chemicals.” There is no hydraulic aerial platform (the modern vehicle) in Rawalpindi to fight fire and rescue people trapped in multi-storey buildings, they said.