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Demands more land, money, bulletproof jackets, state-of-art firefighting equipment and plans to increase fire stations in city from 33 to 100 

GOOD JOB: The fire brigade was at the forefront of the terror attack retaliation

Mumbai's 2,500 fire department personnel serve a population of over 1.5 crore without a firearm or a single bulletproof jacket. The 26/11 terror attacks brought home the dire need for both. Now, along with requisitioning for better equipment, the Mumbai fire brigade wants to increase the number of fire stations from 33 to 100. It wants a minimum 2,500 sq m of land for its new fire stations.

"We have also sought state-of-the-art equipment (see box) like remote controlled monitors, ground monitors, 100 bulletproof jackets and turntable monitors. If we had this equipment during 26/11, our job would have been a little easier, and a lot safer," said Chief Fire Officer A V Sawant.

He added that his office recently wrote to the BMC for land, including plots on which non-operational municipal schools presently stand.

"We have also written to big landholders in the city like Godrej and Morarjee Mills. We want to create smaller firefighting units comprising a single fire engine, water tanker and an ambulance on smaller plots like those presently occupied by non-operational BMC schools," said Sawant.

Meanwhile, BMC Commissioner Jairaj Phatak has acknowledged that he had received a requisition made by the fire department for better equipment in November 2007, but refused to comment on why no action had been taken for 13 months.

How new equipment  will help firemen
- Personal protective equipment, a three-layer ensemble approved by the National Fire Protection Association, gives protection against explosions and flash fire, and resists 100°C heat 
- Remote controlled monitor can fight fires from half a km away. A ground-level monitor uses high-pressure water jets to control fires on the top floors of high-rise buildings.

Location of plots wanted by fire dept from BMC
 Lakshmi Industrial Estate, Andheri
 Huma Talkies, Kanjurmarg
 Ghatkopar stretch of Eastern Express Highway
 Chembur-Santacruz Link Road
 Thakur Village, Kandivli 
 Poisar, Borivli 
 Dharavi

Mumbai's fire brigade in numbers
33: The number of BMC fire stations in Mumbai
56: The number of fire engines
2,500: Number of fire department personnel 
Rs 20 crore: The amount requisitioned by fire department from BMC for modernisation
100: The number of bulletproof jackets the fire department wants
Rs 1 crore: The amount that the fire department expects to spend on donated plots of land to create a fire station
2 years: The time needed to develop a new fire station
Rs 2.5 lakh: The amount paid to families of fire officers who die on duty
Rs 20 lakh: The amount the fire department wants them to be paid in case of a casualty
- Inputs from Chief Fire Officer Sunil Sawant