Fire department in tatters

City is known for multiple flare incidents annually and yet those in charge have done little to address its woes

KARACHI:

In the premises of the Gulistan-e-Mustafa Fire Station, several fire trucks have been left for dead and whilst the local fire department maintains they are to be auctioned soon, questions have now arisen as to why the trucks were never fixed and why taxpayer money is wasted with such impunity.

Nevertheless, it is not just the fire trucks that have been left to rot, the entirety of Karachi fire department is in dire straits as it lacks both resources and personnel. Consequently, any small fire that breaks out in the port city has the potential to turn ugly - causing the loss of both property and life.

As per conservative estimates of the city’s fire department, more than 2,000 incidents of small and large fires occur in Karachi every year. And despite the large number of incidents, the city’s fire department is ill-equipped. For instance, the department, which falls under the domain of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), has a total of 132 fire trucks, 52 of which are in poor condition and are set to be auctioned. Out of the 132 only 44 vehicles are in perfect condition, whereas 36 have minor flaws, as per departmental sources.

These numbers are in stark contrast with international standards, which mandate that for a population of 100,000 people, there should be 1 fire station and 2 fire trucks. As per the latest census Karachi has a population of more than 20 million people and hence its only 44 perfect condition fire trucks are nowhere near international standards.

“A paucity of funds owing to the Sindh government’s inattention and the negligent behaviour of the KMC has made the fire department dysfunctional,” claimed one KMC official, under the condition of anonymity.

“A majority of fire trucks have been defunct for 13 years now because contractors were not paid on time. For example, in 2018, 23 vehicles were in good condition, while 27 firefighting vehicles were damaged. In 2019, only 13 fire trucks were in good condition,” the official elaborated.

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According to the official in the tenure of the former prime minister Imran Khan, in 2021 KMC was given 50 fire trucks by the federal government, at a cost Rs 31.5 million each. “If the state of the fire department is not improved these new and costly vehicles will also fall into disarray.”

Workers associated with the fire department second this prediction. One long-time skilled worker at the department told the Express Tribune under the condition of anonymity that the department’s fire trucks go into disarray due to the department pausing funding for its repair shops. “Until 2007 all repair work was done in 3 workshops owned by the fire brigade department. In 2008, when funding was paused the workshops slipped into ruin. Subsequently, the repairs were outsourced to private contractors and ever since then our vehicles have never been repaired properly,” the worker alleged.

Dr Noman Ahmed, a professor at NED University, who is familiar with the workings of the department, found merit in the allegations. “When the KMC’s workshops were operational, skilled workers used to work on fire trucks. As soon as the work started getting outsourced, the workshops became inactive and the repairs were unsatisfactory,” asserted Dr Ahmed.

When asked about the allegations, Chief Fire Officer Ishtiaq Ahmed, conceded that the fire brigade workshops had become inactive due to a paucity of funding. Ahmed also acknowledged that the fire department’s resources were not enough to meet international standards. “We only have 29 fire stations out of which only 11 have underground water tanks for water supply. It is also standard practice to have a shift of 12 firefighters, 2 drivers, 2 leading firemen, 1 sub-fire officer, and 4 wireless operators at any given time at a fire station. However, we do not have such manpower,” the Chief Fire Officer explained.

When pressed about the lack of manpower, Ahmed said that the fire department had not had any new hires since the Sindh government’s ban on hiring new employees back in 2009. “152 posts of firemen, 130 of drivers, 34 of leading firemen, 7 of sub-fire officers, and of 10 stations officers are presently vacant,” he informed while talking to The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2023.