Eight Northern Districts
No fire stations in about half of 58 upazilas
Fire service station in Nilphamari is in bad shape as it is poorly equipped with old fire fighting vehicles like many other stations in Rangpur division.Photo: STAR
Properties worth crores of taka are gutted every year as there is no fire service and civil defence station in about half of the upazilas in eight northern districts under Rangpur division. There are also reports of casualties due to fire incidents. Only 27 of the 58 upazilas in eight districts have fire service and civil defence stations, said official sources. In Rangpur region, there are six fire service and civil defence stations in Rangpur district, one in Gaibandha, three in Kurigram, three in Lalmonirhat and three in Nilphamari district. Nineteen other upazilas in the region are without any fire station. Under Dinajpur regional office, there are fire stations in eleven out of 23 upazilas under Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts. In each fire service and civil defence station, there are one water-carrying vehicle having capacity to carry 1200 gallons of water and one vehicle for carrying water pump, pipes and firemen. But all the vehicles are old and traditional. Except Rangpur, no other district in the division has any vehicle or arrangement to deal with combustible substances like acid. In absence of adequate fire service and civil defence stations in the division, each station has to cover up to 40-50 kilometres surrounding areas, including those in neighbouring upazilas, with old modelled vehicles. Consequently, fire fighters often fail to reach the spots in time and fire causes huge destruction, said several affected people. Unplanned urbanisation makes roads and streets narrower, hindering easy movement of fire brigade vehicles while filling up of ponds and water reservoirs in towns and villages make fire fighting a difficult task. "Most of the 31 water reservoirs under the railway department in this town have been illegally occupied and filled. I have brought the matter to the notice of the railway department concerned to recover the reservoirs several times but in vein," said Abdul Wadud, fire service and civil defence station officer in Saidpur. In five months from January to May this year, 2627 fire incidents occurred in Rangpur division, damaging properties worth about Tk 45 crore, said sources in fire service department. Three people were killed and 50 others were wounded while about one thousand cattle and domestic fouls were burnt alive, they said. Unofficial sources, however, said a number of fire incidents, especially in remote areas, are not reported to the fire service department and damage at those spots are not mentioned in the official reports. Nitya Gopal Das, assistant director of fire service and civil defence department in Rangpur, informed that new fire stations were being constructed in three upazilas of the region while two other fire stations are waiting for approval. Assistant director of the department in Dinajpur, Liakat Ali said one fire station is being constructed in the region and construction of another station is going to start soon.
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