Mumbai Fire Brigade
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| "शौर्यम्, आत्मसँयमम्, त्यागः" "Śauryaṃ, Ātmasaṃyamam, Tyāgaḥ" (Sanskrit:"Valour, Abnegation, Sacrifice") |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1 April 1887 |
| Fire chief | Prabhat Rahangdale |
| EMS level | BLS |
| Facilities and equipment | |
| Stations | 34 |
| Trucks | 115 |
| Ambulances | 15 |
| Website | |
| mahafireservice.gov.in | |
The Mumbai Fire Brigade is the fire brigade serving the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is responsible for the provision of fire protection as well as responding to building collapses, drownings, gas leakage, oil spillage, road and rail accidents, bird and animal rescues, fallen trees and taking appropriate action during natural disasters.
Fire protection in Bombay began in 1777, when locals were allotted Rs. 4 per day for handling carts and horse chariots which were used to extinguish fires. The Bombay fire brigade started as a part-time police function in 1855. A regular fire service with horse-drawn fire engines began under control of the Commissioner of Police. In 1864, a commission was appointed to report the organisation of fire service and a police officer was sent to England to qualify himself as captain of the fire brigade. Bombay Fire Brigade was placed jointly under the control of the Government and the Municipality in 1865. Fire protection became the responsibility of the Municipality on 1 April 1887.
In 1888 Bombay Municipal Corporation Act was enacted and protection of life and properties from fire become the duty of the Corporation. W. Nicholls of the London Fire Brigade was appointed Chief Officer in 1890. The first motorized fire engine was commissioned in 1907. Also in 1907, the Bombay Salvage Corporation was formed, responsible for fire protection and salvage operations. Street fire alarms were installed in 1913. The Brigade was motorised by replacing horse-drawn steam engines in 1920, and the Bombay fire brigade started ambulance service using six donated ambulances.
In 1948, M.G. Pradhan was appointed Chief Fire Officer, the first Indian to hold this position. Since then, the Brigade has been completely manned and controlled by Indians.
The role and jurisdiction of the Brigade are defined by the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act (2006). Under the Act, the jurisdiction is set as the limits of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Its role includes:
The Mumbai Fire Brigade has its city headquarters in Byculla and suburban headquarters in Marol. It is headed by the Chief Fire Officer. For operational purposes, Mumbai is divided into four regions, further divided into divisions and subdivisions. Each subdivision has multiple fire stations.
The regions are each headed by a Deputy Chief (Fire). The Divisions are in the charge of Divisional Officers. Each subdivision is headed by the Sub-Divisional Officer. The fire station is managed by a Station Officer.
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Wikipedia