The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services will soon start to induct women as firefighters in its force, according to a statement from the department. Braj Kishore Ravi, Director General of Police (DGP) and Director of the department, said in a statement that the department has already sent a proposal to the government in this regard. While the Fire and Rescue Services has 22 women officers, no woman has been employed as a firefighter so far, he pointed out.
The officer said that he would take steps to modernise the department of Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services on par with international standards, and that the department will provide the best training to its personnel and equip them to handle any challenge. A new academy is coming up near Tambaram in Chennai to train the fire service personnel involved in rescue operations and disaster management. “The academy will also train personnel from other departments, including the police, in the protection, rescue, and relief of people and animals during calamity,” he said.
“The Fire and Rescue Services is also in the process of developing a separate dog squad for the department and has bought four pups for the purpose. These pups will undergo training at the National Training Centre for Dogs in Madhya Pradesh. The trained dogs will be deployed to detect the presence of people and animals who are trapped in debris in case of an event like a building collapse,” the DGP said.
Further, the department is to train 1,00,000 people under the Safety Volunteers Scheme. There are only 5,000 trained volunteers under the scheme currently. The department is also expecting these volunteers to be part of its response team to rescue people and animals in crisis during a disaster.