Fire Service

O. P. Bhagat
Chief Fire Advisor,
govt. of India and Director General,
Civil Defence and Home Guards

To tackle the fire accidents SFAC has recommended criteria standards, few of which are discussed below:

Response time
All big fires has a humble origin. Fire management becomes easier by attacking this origin at the earliest. 'A', 'B' & 'C' risk zones has a maximum limit of 3 to 5 minutes response time and for 'D' risk zone, it is recommended as maximum 20 minutes.

Based on area
One fire station for every 10 s q. km area of the town.

Based on Population

1. Yardtisk for calculating the number of pumping units (fire engine) for towns/cities.
   
   

   Population (lakh)	Fire engines (Nos)
   0.5	1
   1.0	2
   1.5	3
   2.0	4
   2.5	5
   3.0	6

   
   
   1. 3 lakh onwards, there should be one additional fire engine.
   2. Reserve of 20% of the total fire engine.
   3. In industrial cities and areas of high fire risks, the scales and types of additional fire fighting appliances should be determined by an actual survey of the area to be protected.
   
   
2. Yardstick for calculating the number of rescue vans for fire services in towns and cities. Between 3 and 10 lakh population, one rescue van is required. This should be augmented by additional rescue for every 10 lakh more population.
3. Yardstick for turn-table ladder and hydraulics-plat form for fire services in towns and cities. Turn-table ladders and hydraulic-platforms should used at buildings, which exceeds 60 feet.
4. Ambulance - minimum one for each fire station.
5. Extra heavy water tenders - minimum one on each fire station.

Based on vulnerability towards fire risk.
Calculation of fire engines according to the population on the sliding scale is satisfactory for P(D) fire risks.

Fir assessing the additional pumping units necessary to cover special or higher fire risk areas local fire officers should take into account the local conditions and situations.

In locating the fire stations, scale of one fire station per 10 sq km should be made flexible. Local fire officers should not be restricted to locate the fire stations at a closer/greater distance, depending on local topography, terrain etc as well as the fire risk involved and the time taken to cover such risk.

Based on the vulnerability of cities/towns
Requirement of fire engines in the event of emergency should e based on the type of emergency should be based on the type of emergency according to which the cities and towns are to be classified:

1. High vulnerability
2. Moderate vulnerability
3. Low vulnerability