Fire Service’s new ladders can reach up to 24th storey of buildings
Another shipment of three such ladders will join the fleet within a very short time, according to Fire Service sources
Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence has received two Turntable Ladder (TTL) trucks in its equipment inventory which can tackle fire incidents and carry out rescue operations in high-rise buildings of up to the 24th storey of buildings.
The newly imported TTL trucks have the world's tallest ladders, which can expand up to 68 metres, with built-in high-pressure fire hose nozzles mounted on top of them.
Another three ladders will join the fleet soon, according to Fire Service sources.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan inaugurated the TTL trucks at the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters in Dhaka on Sunday.
The Germany-made 'Magirus M68L' trucks can easily reach the 23rd floor of any kind of building. China, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey and many countries in Europe are already using these ladders for putting out high-rise building fires. These TTLs can contain 1,800 litres of water and 400 litres of chemical foams to tackle oil-originated fires.
"Till now, we could only conduct fire rescue operations in buildings up to 12-storey high. Now with the new emergency vehicles, we can climb up to 68 metres (23 floors)," the minister said, adding that three more of these vehicles will join the service soon.
Meanwhile, 13 Fire Service personnel, who died in the fire incident at the private BM Container Depot in Chattogram's Sitakunda, were honoured with the title of "Agni Bir" (Fire Hero) during Sunday's event.
Shahidul Suman, a station officer at Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, who also rescued several people from Banani FR Tower during a fire incident, told The Business Standard, "This ladder is packed with the latest technology and best in the world now. It has a high-velocity firehose, with a water flow rate faster than any other ladder. It can easily spray 2,500 LPM (litre per minute) of water, and has a turning radius of around 41 metres."
"We will be able to douse fires faster and save dozens of lives from buildings with the use of these ladders," he added.
