In response to a surge in fire incidents and other disasters in recent years, the government has decided to construct 59 more fire stations across the country by spending nearly Tk 24 billion in the next four years, officials said.
These fire and civil defence stations will be strategically situated in 59 locations in 28 districts, which currently lack adequate fire service coverage in eight divisions.
Officials said that the existing 495 fire service and civil defence stations nationwide are insufficient to meet the growing demand for emergency responses.
To address this gap, the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence, in collaboration with the Public Works Department (PWD), has taken up the project to construct these new stations by December 2027. The project will involve constructing 51 entirely new fire and civil defence stations and rebuilding eight existing ones.
At a recent meeting of the project evaluation committee (PEC) held at the Planning Commission, officials from the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence pointed out the changing nature of disaster events due to rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.
They noted an alarming increase in chemical incidents, building collapses, fires in multi-storied buildings, gas cylinder explosions, fires in power plants and oil refineries and container depot fires.
Considering the evolving nature of the disasters, the government has issued directives to establish specialised units and expand fire and civil defence facilities across the country, the officials said.
Chairing the PEC meeting, Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian, a member of the Planning Commission, directed the Security Services Division and the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence to develop a comprehensive master plan to strengthen the department in line with the Eighth Five-Year Plan.
The meeting also instructed the project authorities to carefully select the sites for the fire stations, considering the distance between existing stations and the strategic importance of the locations.
At the meeting, a joint chief of the Physical Infrastructure Division emphasised the need to prioritise industrial areas when selecting sites for the stations. He also called for considering earthquake vulnerability during the site selection process.
According to fire department data, some 29,570 fire incidents occurred in the fiscal year 2022-23, with 241 of those incidents occurring in readymade garment factories.
A senior official at the Security Services Division told the FE that the number of fire service stations needs to be increased further as the frequency and severity of incidents and disasters continue to rise annually.
The incidents are growing further due to political unrest for which adequate preparations have to be taken to deal with them successfully, he noted.
syful-islam@outlook.com