To contain blazes in high-rises,the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) fire department will soon acquire a 90-metre hydraulic platform fire engine. Suhas Joshi,chief fire officer,said,With the number of high-rises in the city increasing,the fire department is seeking to import hydraulic-platform engines from a European country by next year. We are working out the budget. With these engines,we will be able to douse fires at 100 ft. Our snorkel fire engine is only 70 metres and can reach a height of only 21 metres. The imported one will reach a height of 31 metres. A hydraulic platform,also known as snorkel, includes a turntable ladder that provides high-level access and elevated water pumps. Joshi said the department would add more of these vehicles to its fleet in the coming years. It will take time to procure these expensive engines, he said,adding that fire department personnel would be trained to operate the machines. We need 25 to 30 men to operate the engines in three shifts. The BMC fire department has 70 hydraulic-platform fire engines. Apart from a number of 27-metre snorkels,its fleet consists of a 70-metre snorkel,a 55-metre one,four 42-metre engines and two 32-metre snorkels.
