Devastating blazes remind Dhaka of the need for fire hydrants

Firefighters struggled to find sources of water in every case of recent blazes

Obaidur Masumbdnews24.com
Published : 19 April 2023, 08:51 PM
Updated : 19 April 2023, 08:51 PM

When a fire broke out in Bangabazar earlier this month, it took the first unit of firefighters minutes to reach the site. But the fire engine ran out of water in about 10 minutes and the blaze turned into an inferno soon after. 

It took the fire service six and a half hours to bring the blaze under control and 75 hours to completely douse it. But the Bangabazar Complex, Gulistan Unit, Mahanagar Unit, Adarsha Unit, Mahanagar Complex of the marketplace had turned into ashes by then, while nearby Anexco Tower, Islamia Market and Banga Homeo Market suffered massive damage. 

An investigation committee put the losses at Tk 3.03 billion with 3,845 shops charred in the fire during Eid shopping season.

Fire crews pointed out a lack of water source to carry out their extinguishing operations during the Apr 4 incident. 

They set up a pump in the pond of Fazlul Haque Hall at Dhaka University as helicopters of the Bangladesh Air Force carried in water from Hatirjheel in an effort to put out the fire. 

Lieutenant Colonel Md Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director (operations) of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said: “We rushed around for water that day and realised the need for fire hydrants.”

“If we had hydrants, we would have been able to access water simply by plugging our hose pipes to them. Instead, we ran around like madmen in search of water and set up 14 pumps on the banks of the pond.” 

Again on Apr 15, a fire broke out at New Super Market, next to New Market. The fire service had to pump from the Dhaka College pond to extinguish the fire. 

“We wouldn’t have to travel so far if we had fire hydrants. Carrying water from different ponds in such a manner is very difficult. And it takes a lot of time to set up pumps so far away and transfer water. Those who lose their properties lose their minds in the meantime,” Tajul said.

On Apr 13, a warehouse at Nawabpur Road caught fire and firefighters brought it under control in two hours. On Apr 17, a fire broke out at BGB Market in Uttara and another cotton storehouse went up in flames at BNP Bazar slums. Then again on Apr 18, a building in front of Wari Police Outpost caught fire. 

Fire service personnel struggled to find sources of water in every case. 

After a fire engine runs out of water, it has to travel to refill and then return. The whole process is a waste of time that is unaffordable in cases of such disasters, said Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan, former director general of the fire service.

“This is a huge challenge for us. Extinguishing fire without hydrants is unimaginable in foreign countries. Fire hydrants are essential to every modern fire extinguishing system everywhere in the world,” he said, adding the pressure hydrants provide is crucial. 

The discussion over the necessity of fire hydrants is not something new. It returns to the spotlight after every big fire incident. 

“Fire service has made proposals at different times, requesting housing companies to set up fire hydrants during any new projects. But it was never realised,” Ali said. 

WHAT IS A FIRE HYDRANT? 

In simple terms, fire hydrants are specialised faucets located at different points on the streets to provide high-pressure water flow when valves are opened. It is directly connected to the water supply system of a city. So firefighters can swiftly access water with a hydrant nearby in case of fire.

WHO WILL SET UP HYDRANTS? 

Almost all the big cities in the world have hydrants for fire safety. In Kolkata, fire hydrants were set up during the British era. 

After much discussion, Chattogram WASA started placing fire hydrants at 173 points of the port city in 2019. But the issue is stuck in a limbo in the capital with confusion over which agency will be in charge of implementing the plan. 

Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Dhaka WASA, said each of WASA’s 950 pumps have one fire hydrant. WASA supplied water on 180 trucks during the fire at Bangabazar. 

“But a masterplan is needed to place hydrants on the streets, something the city lacks. The streets of our city are too narrow for cars to enter, where is the space to place hydrants? It has to be done when the street is made. The fire service is in talks with us and we will do everything needed to support them.” 

Ujjwal Mallick, chief engineer of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (implementation), said the RAJUK planned to place fire hydrants along the streets of Purbachal New Town and kept places for the hydrants, but it is not happening right away. 

The fire service will carry out a project  to set up the hydrants there, according to him.

During an event to support the victims of Sattala slum fire in June 2021, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Md Atiqul Islam said: “We will set up fire hydrants at the slums. I’ve allocated a budget for that. We will place hydrants at different points of every slum.”

Asked about the progress on the promise on Wednesday, he said setting up fire hydrants at Sattala was nearing completion and would be opened for use soon. 

The mayor also said sources of water to douse fire shrank due to filling up of water bodies in the capital. Even government organisations were filling up low-lying lands where water is stored or flows naturally, making it tough to douse flames without fire hydrants at the moment, Atiqul said. 

“Fire hydrants have to be set up in coordination with many agencies. We live in a city and can’t really say when a fire would erupt somewhere.” 

Adil Mohammed Khan, president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said fire hydrants in a planned city are placed in a specific row, but in an unplanned city like Dhaka, it needs to be done based on priority. 

Hydrants cannot be placed throughout the whole city at a time, rather factories, chemical storages, marketplaces or places with crowds must be prioritised. The risk of fire is higher in Old Dhaka, so the need for hydrants there is higher as well, he added. 

“It needs to be placed as a network in some areas, so that one is connected to another. Apart from that, every building and factory can have separate fire hydrants. It’s not that the government has to carry out the whole task. The responsibility can be passed to building owners in some places as well.” 

“A mid-size structure can be expanded later. It’s not correct to say that wide roads are necessary to place fire hydrants. All our roads have water connection, so placing fire hydrants is not impossible, albeit a bit complicated.”

[Writing in English by Syed Mahmud Onindo; editing by Osham-ul-Sufian Talukder]