odisha fire service

A recent fatal apartment fire in Bhubaneswar has highlighted the alarming lack of fire safety measures in the city's multi-storey buildings. Despite regulations, many complexes operate without mandatory fire safety certificates, prompting calls for stricter enforcement and public disclosure of compliance status.

A decade after a devastating fire at SUM hospital claimed 21 lives, the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack experienced a blaze. The 2016 incident, reportedly caused by a short circuit, saw patients and attendants trapped by thick smoke, with many succumbing to suffocation during evacuation. Gross negligence was cited by the fire service following the tragedy.

Patient attendants alleged a significant delay in raising the alarm and slow evacuation following a fire in the SCB Medical College and Hospital's trauma ICU, leading to the deaths of 12 out of 23 admitted patients. They also claimed fire safety equipment failed to function, exacerbating the dangerous situation.

An Ahmedabad-based company is scheduled to give a demonstration of the robotic firefighting techniques at Odisha fire and disaster response academy (OFDRA) in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Sources said the cost of a firefighting robot comes between Rs 70 lakh and Rs 95 lakh.

The fire at Laxmi market complex in Puri on Wednesday not just reignited the debate on the compliance of fire safety norms in commercial buildings across the state but also exposed the structural anomalies that made the firefighting task cut out for the personnel of the odisha fire services wing.

Massive corruption and irregularities in the transfer and deputation of subordinate staff of the odisha fire service wing has prompted the director general (fire and emergency service) Santosh Upadhyay to go for a course correction.

Two agencies of the government — police and fire services — have locked horns over their legal powers when it comes to taking action in the aftermath of the fire that broke out at Laxmi market complex in Puri on Wednesday.

The odisha fire services may use drones for firefighting. On Wednesday, senior fire service officers had a preliminary discussion at a conference in this regard.

The odisha fire services may use drones for firefighting. On Wednesday, senior fire service officers had a preliminary discussion at a conference in this regard.

In the wake of Surat fire tragedy, odisha fire services on Wednesday conducted simultaneous inspection of leading coaching centres in Balangir (10), Bhawanipatna (10), Angul (8), Jharsuguda (10), Bhadrak (5) and Jeypore (6) to check fire safety measures and create awareness among staff and students of these centres.

Alarmed by the SUM hospital tragedy, the odisha fire service on Wednesday said it plans to lodge FIRs against those clinical establishments that do not meet its safety guidelines.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday approved creation of a striking force in odisha fire services directorate. The primary tasks of the striking fire force would be to carry out rescue operations during crisis situations, including urban flooding, fire in highrise buildings/hospitals, train accidents, chemical disasters and industrial fires.

Wary of large-scale destruction of forest covers due to fire mishaps in summer, the odisha fire service (OFS) has decided to draw a road map to tackle the wildfire. The OFS will identify vulnerable forest stretches that often witnessed inferno in summer and sign an MoU with the forest department for imparting training to the forest officials to effectively contain wildfire.

The number of rescue personnel, who have tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from post-Amphan restoration work in West Bengal, rose to 115 in the state with 54 fresh such cases on Thursday, government authorities said.

odisha fire services directorate has started a process of getting International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certification for fire stations in the state. At present, no fire station in the country has received ISO certification, the directorate said.

Odisha’s fire services are about to embark on an innovative journey with the launch of underwater drones designed for rescue operations. These cutting-edge devices will significantly enhance the search for missing persons and support evidence gathering in underwater crime scenes, offering real-time insights from challenging environments.

The odisha fire services (OFS) on Tuesday found that most private hospitals and clinics in the city lacked fire-safety systems. A surprise inspection of 15 leading hospitals showed that only five had procured fire-safety certificates.

The fire services directorate has increased the obsequies grant from existing Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000 to the kin of deceased personnel. The tenfold increase in the funeral grant is also applied to the family members of ‘paid’ staff of home guards and civil defence wings after their deaths.

After Bhubaneswar, the odisha fire services department on Saturday conducted raids on five hotels and seven malls in the Millennium City and came across serious violations of fire safety norms.

In what may send the state government into a tizzy, a servitor of Puri Jagannath temple, who was allowed by the district administration to take part in June 23 Rath Yatra after being tested negative for Covid-19 virus, was found positive hours before Bahuda Yatra only a week after. The servitor is among the 12 persons, including personnel of odisha fire services and railways, whose report came positive on Tuesday night.