Firemen train to use vehicle that’ll fight chemical blazes

MUMBAI: A month after the Mumbai Fire Brigade procured a specialized vehicle to fight disasters caused by hazardous material, including chemicals, firemen have started receiving training on how to use it from experts who have come down from Slovenia. The fire brigade will set up two teams, each of 30 firefighters, to undergoing rigorous training all through the week. The Hazardous Material Handling Apparatus vehicle (Hazmat) will be commissioned into the force in a fortnight.

“We are training our men on how to handle the vehicle to tackle chemical disasters, including spills,” said chief fire officer P S Rahangdale.


The plan to procure Hazmat, which has varied equipment and mechanisms to handle specific chemical and radiological disasters, was in the pipeline for three years. The 14-tonne vehicle, which cost around Rs 7 crore, arrived at the fire brigade’s Byculla headquaters on January 17.


Rahangdale admitted that just one Hazmat vehicle was insufficient for a populated city like Mumbai, but considering that fire brigade is the first responder to any disaster, it will help control and curtail any collateral damage.