Four new fire stations proposed in district

The Fire and Rescue Services Department has proposed establishment of more fire stations in the district. A proposal has been forwarded to the State government seeking sanction for the establishment of new fire stations at four locations.

The department authorities said new fire stations have been proposed at Samayapuram, Manachanallur, Pettavaithalai and Tiruverumbur. The proposal justifying establishment of a fire station at Samayapuram is due to the large turnout of devotees to the Arulmigu Mariamman Temple daily and for speedier response in case of emergency situation in the nearby villages.

The demand for a fire station at Samayapuram a few kilometres away from the city has been pending for long, the authorities said. The nearest fire station to Samayapuram is at Srirangam which is about 10 kilometres and Lalgudi which is about 20 kilometres.

Similarly, the fire station at Tiruverumbur on the city's outskirts has been proposed taking into account the proliferation of residential localities along the Tiruchi - Thanjavur National Highway besides numerous educational institutions and industrial units in its vicinity.

The authorities say the services of fire fighters attached to the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited was being utilised to attend to emergency situation at Tiruverumbur and its nearby areas. The other fire station is located at Navalpattu which is away from Tiruverumbur.

Presently, Tiruchi district has eight fire stations located at Tiruchi, Srirangam, Lalgudi, Thuvarankurichi, Uppiliapuram, Navalpattu and Pullambadi. The proposal seeking the establishment of additional fire stations have been made in the wake of public demand, said a senior official of the department.

The fire fighters of Tiruchi Division have attended 710 ‘small’, eight ‘medium’ and two ‘serious’ incidents of fire during the period January to December 2017. They had attended to 739 rescue calls received during the same period. In the current year up to March, fire fighters of Tiruchi had attended 220 ‘small’ and one ‘medium’ incidents of fire besides attending to 223 rescue calls.