'Staff shortage hindering services of Ukhrul fire station'

Mungchan Zimik
Ukhrul, Dec 10: Ukhrul firemen continue to bear the burden and brunt of public anger in wake of any emergency fire outbreak in the district, stated KD Rongmei, Sub-officer, Ukhrul Fire sub- station.
Speaking to media persons today at the Ukhrul fire sub-station at Phungreitang,  KD Rongmei stated that the few men at the station are responsible for handling emergencies at both Ukhrul and Kamjong districts.
With only 13 sanctioned staff, the station is  is facing difficulties in responding to emergencies.
Most of the time, the station does not receive complaints of emergency/fire incident directly which delayed the response time, he said urging people to dial 8415925205 for quick response.
The station has two water tanker trucks with carrying capacity of 3,000 litres and one quick response vehicles with capacity of 300 litres ready round the clock to respond to fire emergencies.
In the event of a fire, the water in the trucks finishes within 15-20 minutes, and refilling from the reservoir takes more than 20 minutes. This further aggravates the public anger towards the firemen, he added.
Short-staffed and non availability of abundant hydrants and reservoir coupled with road traffic issues are delaying response time, he said. "Traffic congestion, indisciplined driving on the highway is a serious issue. People hardly understand emergency services and pay no attention to the siren of the fire trucks," he said.
According to him, four cases of fire incidents occurred in Ukhrul town during November and December this year. The causes of the fire were mainly due to careless handling of LPG and electric short circuit. As precautionary measure, he said all commercial shops in the town should instal at least one portable fire extinguisher for safety.
Sale of petrol and diesel on roadside and storing them inside wooden houses should be stopped as they are highly flammable liquids, he said.
The Ukhrul fire sub-station needs renovation and new and upgraded equipment. The station needs trolley type fire extinguishers and additional water tankers with larger capacity, fire proof jackets, boots etc for the firemen in order to render best and worthy service to the public, he added.