Fire Service Week 2023 -- under guidance of site in-charge -Shri P. Chandra Mohan Sir -Awareness in Fire Safety for Growth of National Infrastructure (AGNI).

HISTORY OF FIRE SERVICES IN INDIA

Prior to the Independence, task of fire fighting was majorly done by Imperial Police Service (established by India Act of 1861). Thus, development of fire services been co-existent with police service. We have tabulated formulation/establishment year of prominent fire services below;

Sr No.	Year	City	Fire Service
1	1803	Bombay	The Bombay fire brigade was officially formed and formally placed under the police as a part-time function.
2	1822	Calcutta	The fire service in Calcutta was organized under the Calcutta Police.
3	1893	Srinagar	The Fire & Emergency Services, J&K was established in the year 1893 as Srinagar Fire Brigade
4	1896	Delhi	Delhi is believed to have had a fire brigade in 1867, but the organized form of fire station is claimed to have been started in 1896 and was under the Municipal Corporation
5	1908	Madras	The Madras city fire brigade was established by the Municipal Corporation of Madras.
6	1942	Bangalore	Fire & Emergency Services in Karnataka was first established in the year 1942 in Bangalore South & North under the administrative control of the Police department

Source:

Chapter-2, Page -9 of National Disaster Management Guidelines—Scaling, Type of Equipment and Training of Fire Services A publication of the National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India

MAJOR FIRE INCIDENTS

India has witnessed many deadly and catastrophic fires in past causing pain and agony. We have tried to prepare list of such incidents as a reminder that improvement for fire safety is need of hour to provide safe environment.

SN	Date	State	Incident	Fatalities
1	04/14/1944	Maharashtra	Bombay Port Fire	66 fire fighters and approx. more than 1000 citizens
2	07/29/1979	Tamil Nadu	Lakshmiki Talkies, Tutikorin	73
3	12/06/1981	Gujarat	Nilkanth Mahadev temple fire	49
4	02/08/1981	Karnataka	Circus Fire, Bangalore	66
5	02/23/1985	Madhya Pradesh	Rajnandgaon train fire	50
6	02/08/1989	Karnataka	Premier Studio Fire, Mysore	42
7	04/16/1990	Bihar	Train fire, Patna	70
8	10/10/1990	Andhra Pradesh	Train fire, Cherpalli	40
9	12/23/1995	Haryana	Dabwali	540
10	02/23/1997	Odisha	Baripada Religious Congregation	More than 200
11	06/07/1997	Tamil Nadu	Brihadeeswarar temple fire	48
12	06/13/1997	Delhi	Uphaar Cinema	59
13	08/06/2001	Tamil Nadu	Mental Asylum, Erwadi	25
14	06/26/2002	Uttar Pradesh	Shree Lee International footwear factory, Agra	42
15	02/27/2002	Gujarat	Train fire, Godhara	58
16	05/14/2003	Punjab	Train fire, Ludhiana	38
17	01/23/2004	Tamil Nadu	Padmapriya Marriage Hall, Srirangam	57
18	07/16/2004	Tamil Nadu	Kumabakonam School	94
19	04/10/2006	Uttar Pradesh	Brand India Trade Fair, Meerut	57
20	11/22/2006	West Bengal	Leather factory, 24 Pargana (S)	30
21	10/29/2009	Rajasthan	IOC Oil Depot	12
22	02/23/2010	Karnataka	Carlton Tower fire, Bangalore	9
23	03/29/2010	West Bengal	Stephen Court	42
24	12/09/2011	West Bengal	AMRI Hospital	90
25	07/30/2012	Andhra Pradesh	Train fire, Nellore	47
26	09/05/2012	Tamil Nadu	Sivakasi Firework Factory	40
27	12/28/2013	Andhra Pradesh	Train fire	26
28	04/11/2016	Kerala	Puttingal Devi Temple, Kollam	108
29	02/12/2019	Delhi	Arpit Hotel Fire	17
30	05/24/2019	Gujarat	Takshashila Centre, Surat	20
31	12/08/2019	Delhi	Factory Building in Anaj Mandi area	43

INDUSTRIAL FIRE SERVICES

Significant loss to business occurs due to fires in industries workplaces. Irrespective of size fire causes personal suffering, damage to equipment, plants / buildings. In India, major fire incidents have occurred, for example IOC Jaipur Oil Depot (29 October 2009), Sivakasi Fireworks Factory Explosion (05 September 2012), Factory building fire in Delhi’s Anaj-mandi area (08 December 2019) etc.

As far as fire safety norms are concerned, following excerpts from “Factories Act- 1948” emphasizes on requirement of fire safety in industrial setup.

 

Precautions in case of fire:

• In every factory, all practicable measures shall he taken to prevent outbreak of fire and its spread, both internally and externally, and to provide and maintain
• safe means of escape for all persons in the event of a fire
• the necessary equipment and facilities for extinguishing fire
• Effective measures shall be taken to ensure that in every factory all the workers are familiar with the means of escape in case of fire and have been adequately trained in the routine to be followed in such cases.
• The State Government may make rules, in respect of any factory or class or description of factories, requiring the measures to be adopted to give effect to the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2)”

Subsequently State governments has made specific rules for their jurisdictions with due importance to fire safety. For industrial setup of specific hazard dedicated norms / guidelines are being enforced by government to ensure desired level of fire safety provisions such as OISD norms for petrochemical industry, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board guidelines for Nuclear Power Plant, ICAO norms for Airport etc. We have listed some industries where dedicated fire safety professionals are employed to ensure fire safety within factory/plant.

FIRE SERVICE WEEK

Credit for taking initiative action regarding observation of “Fire Service Week” goes to the Standing Fire Advisory Council (SFAC), the council members decided in the very first meeting (Feb’1956) to observe a “Fire Prevention Week” simultaneously all over the country once in a year, preferably before the Diwali.

In the fifth meeting (August’ 1958), a proposal was made to observe “National Fire Prevention Week” annually during April/May rather than in November from year 1959 due to climatic condition of some the states and pre-occupied public with the preparation for the Diwali festival. The SFAC recommended to observe Fire Prevention Week annually in the second week of the February in view of pleasant climatic condition and less likelihood of major festival in this month.

In the eleventh meeting (Mar’1965), The Committee resolved that the observance of the Fire Prevention Week every year was not necessary but instead of this there should be one day designated every year as “Fire Services Day” in order to attract public attention. In respect of the Fire Services Day, the SFAC proposed that this day should be linked with some significant event connected with the fire services and for that purpose several suggestions were made by the members. It was generally felt that “14 th of April” the day on which the Dock Explosion took place in Bombay, in which fire fighters played heroic and gallant part should be considered for this purpose.

The significance of “Fire Service Week” dates back to the fateful yet historical day on 14th April 1944 at 16:40 Hr, at Bombay Dockyard popularly known as the “Great Bombay Dock Fire”. The massive and devastating fire broke out on a ship, the S.S. “Fort Stikene” which was carrying 1,200 tons of explosives, cotton bales and oil drums. In the line of duty to extinguish fire and to save public sixty-six brave and devoted fire fighters of Bombay Fire Service sacrificed their lives.

Every year on 14th of April is observed as “Martyrs Day” to pay homage to those brave Fire Personnel who lost their precious lives while performing their duty. From year 1995, “Fire Service Week” is being observed from 14th April to 20th April all around the country.

 On 14th April 2016, Department of Posts India issued a commemorative postage stamp in the honor of “Fire Services of India” which have a glorious history.

Fire Service theme for last 13 years is tabulated below:

Year	Theme
2011	Lets work together for fire safe India.
2012	Smoke management save lives.
2013	Fire is fire.. Friend or Foe we decide.
2014	Fire prevention is the best issurance.
2015	Adopt safe housekeeping practise and approved electrical appliances.
2016	Prevent fire accident - Promote nations development.
2017	Fireman - Your partner for saving life and property.
2018	Fire loss is National loss - Lets adopt fire safety measures.
2019	Fire prevention is better than fire fighting.
2020	Samanam Agni - Sarnam Agni.
2021	Maintenance of Fire Safety Equipment is Key to Mitigate Fire Hazards.
2022	Learn Fire Safety, Increase Productivity.
2023	Awareness in Fire Safety for Growth of National Infrastructure (AGNI).