Watch video: Tallest fire ladder to be tested in Mumbai on Saturday

The newest tallest feather in the Mumbai Fire Brigadersquos cap its 90metre ladder is about to face its first test on Saturday when it will be put through a fire drill at the World Trade Centre to ascertain how it performs in a situation of that kindThe new vehicle with the fire brigadersquos tallest ladder and the one that held the record before When the ladders reach their peak they seem to be one with the sky PicsAtul KambleAhead of this test midday got to see the new ladder in action yesterday alongside the Mumbai Fire Brigadersquos previous tallest ladder The raising of the ladders to their highest possible mark equivalent to the heights of 30 and 22storey buildings respectively makes for a rather impressive sight Watch the video on wwwmiddaycom Manoeuvring the vehicle which has a length of 165 metres 54 feet and width of 255 metres 83 feet in Mumbairsquos narrow roads will pose a problem for the officials however and an engineer from Finland where the ladder was procured from mdash has been called in to train fire officials to operate itThe training began on Monday and the test on Saturday will reveal how well the officials have imbibed the lessons Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has also asked fire officials to prepare a proposal to be sent to the state government for sending seven officials from the brigade to Finland for one week of advanced trainingKeeping paceThe 90metre ladder manufactured by Bronto Skylift from Finland was inaugurated along with the fire brigadersquos new command centre in Byculla by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta on SundayIt is a significant addition to the arsenal of the fire brigade whose tallest ladder so far could reach a height of 70 metres 22 storeys ldquoThe Mumbai Fire Brigade has had ladders in its service since 1974 As the city expanded and grew vertically we kept adding equipment to handle the challenges of a metropolisNow with highrises mushrooming all over the city a 90metre ladder was considered essential to cater to buildings with more than 20 floorsrdquo said R A Chaudhary Assistant Divisional Fire Officer Technical who is incharge of fire equipmentAbove and belowSince Monday 12 officers and eight operators from the brigade are being trained to use the ladder by Bronto service engineer Jyrki Jantunen from Finland Jantunen who has been working with the Mumbai Fire Brigade since the 90s ever since they began procuring fire equipment from his country is training officials in the operations and maintenance of the ladderAsked if the vehicle is equipped to handle the potholes and other problems of the cityrsquos roads Jantunen said ldquoThe vehicle is a sturdy one designed to handle extreme situations It will not be affected by potholesrdquoJantunen said the vehicle can be used for rescue operations below ground level alsoFor example in cases of drowning lifeguards can be lowered to the surface of the water from a bridge and the drowning person can be pulled onto the ladderrsquos platform and brought safely back to land ldquoThat is also one of its uses but it is up to the fire brigade how to use itrdquo he saidChallengeldquoI think the biggest challenge for us is the length of the vehicle We will have to mind its rear and be careful while turning Other than that the mechanism is more or less the same as that of the 70metre ladderrdquo said Vijay Barge operator and instructor who will be operating the new ladderOn Saturday the trained officials will get to test their training ldquoIt will be a confidencebuilding measure for our officials So far they have been training within the confines of the fire stationSoon they will learn how to manoeuvre the vehicle on city roads learn where to park it to get the best strategic position and use the hoses during the drill It will also instill confidence in citizensrdquo Chaudhari said