23 April 2011

Emergency services to get more efficient

MYSORE: The handling of fire disasters and medical emergencies in the State may soon get much more efficient. Three senior officers from the State's Department of Fire and Emergency Services recently returned from the U.K. after a month-long advanced fire safety and management training. Fire Safety College at Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, which offers advanced training courses for fire officers from Britain and other countries, trained the fire officers of the ranks of Regional Fire Officer and District Fire Officer from 10 states, including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The fire officers from the State were Gurulingaiah (Mysore), Shivashankar and Eshwar Nayak (both Bangalore).

Centre sponsored

The Union Government had sponsored the training as part of a scheme of the Ministry of Home Affairs to strengthen the fire and emergency services in the country by introducing advanced technologies and better fire-fighting techniques. Most importantly, schoolchildren and the masses will also be educated on fire safety. The trained officials will be resource persons for advanced training of fire personnel at the Fire and Emergency Services Academy, Bangalore, and also in upgrading the syllabus for new recruits at the National Fire Service College, Nagpur, under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The three officers from Karnataka have been invited to Nagpur on April 28 for their inputs on effective training. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Gurulingaiah said the training in the U.K. was an attempt to improve the academic knowledge of the department. “It was very helpful; we would be able to strengthen the services making use of the knowledge and the state-of-the-art equipment being introduced,” he said. Urban search and rescue operations, firemen as first medical responder, basic operational training, and hands-on training on advanced equipment were part of their four-week course, he said. Mysore recently acquired an ultramodern rescue van fitted with equipment to handle crises such as floods, building collapse, boat accidents, and other disasters. Apart from a 35-ft, manually operated ladder fitted to the van, the vehicle has hydraulic searchlights that can rotate 360 degrees. The van is also equipped with lifejackets, ropes and a specially manufactured generator.

21 April 2011

ಮಾನ್ಯ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಪದಕ ಪಡೆದ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಅಗ್ನಿಶಾಮಕ ಮತ್ತು ತುರ್ತು ಸೇವೆಯ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳ ಜೊತೆ ಮಾನ್ಯ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಯಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪರವರು



From: Sanjevani, dated- 20/4/2011

Sullia: Youth Drowns While Swimming in River Payaswini

Sullia, Apr 21: In a tragic incident that occurred in a place near Adkar Bridge near here on Wednesday April 20, a youth who had gone for swimming, drowned in Payaswini River and lost his life. Jalaluddin alias Mustafa (22), son of Abdul Ajeed from Ajjavar, working in a chicken centre in the town, had ventured into the river along with eight friends. Reportedly, he suffered muscle cramps while swimming, and could not reach the shore. Fire Brigade personnel fished out the body of the youth from the river later. Mustafa, only son of Abdul Ajeed, has left behind parents and three sisters. A complaint about the unfortunate incident was registered in the local police station later.

18 April 2011

Mangalore: Flames Consume Truck – Loss of Rs 10 lac Estimated

Mangalore, Apr 16: A truck loaded with paints and sprayers suddenly caught fire while moving through Mukka village near Suratkal on Friday April 15. The loss in the incident has been put at around Rs 10 lac. The truck was loaded with paints and machines used for spraying paint, from a godown in Bykmpady. The vehicle was moving towards Bidar, when two workers travelling in the cargo section of the truck observed flames leaping up. Even though they raised an alarm, the driver did not hear them. Drivers of some other vehicles, who saw fire, informed the driver, after which the driver, in a show of quick presence of mind, moved the truck to an open ground before alighting. The timely action of the driver not only saved loss of lives and injuries, but also averted a major traffic snarl at Mukka. The fire brigade, which arrived with lot of delay, doused the flames. Suratkal police station house officer, K U Belliappa, sub-inspector, Ramesh H, and other personnel, were involved with relief operations.

15 April 2011

Fire damages SSLC Hindi answer scripts



EFFORT GONE WASTE:Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj (centre) inspecting the burnt answer scripts of SSLC examination in Shimoga on Thursday.

Shimoga: Nearly 3,000 Hindi language answer scripts of SSLC examinations stored at Basaveshwara Education Society premises in the city were gutted on Thursday. Of the 100 bundles of answer scripts of Mysore district stored at the building, 10 bundles were damaged in the fire. Fire tenders, which were pressed into service immediately, managed to contain the damage. Deputy Director of Public Instruction Paramashivappa has said that the paper bundles in the building caught fire because of an electric short circuit. It is said that welding work had been taken up as part of the renovating of building in the evening, and a spark from this is suspected to have caused the fire. Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj said a complaint had been lodged with the police about the incident. The remaining bundles of answer scripts were shifted to a safe place.

The spot would be inspected by Controller of Examination, he added.

Police personnel, who were guarding the building, had noticed smoke billowing from the room at 7 p.m. Officials of the Department of Public Instruction were immediately informed and fire brigade alerted. Over 5,000 answer scripts of the examination conducted by Kuvempu University for undergraduate course stored at a private college in the city caught fire in 2009.

13 April 2011

Shimoga: Body of Missing Peon Found from Falls Water

Shimoga, Apr 13: The children studying in a school in Agumbe town in Teerthahalli taluk were on an excursion to Jogigundi Falls within Agumbe police station limits on Sunday April 10. At that time, the school peon, Nagaraj (28), had gone missing, and a report thereof had been filed with the police station. No one had at that time, suspected that he would have drowned in the standing water at the falls, although many had seen him taking bath there. The policemen sought the help of fire brigade to scout for Nagaraj’s body in the water, and succeeded in their efforts on Tuesday April 12, in fishing it out from the falls. It is now felt that Nagaraj would have slipped and drowned while taking bath. Nagaraj was a native of Agumbe. A case has about the accidental death has been registered in Agumbe police station.

ಲಿಫ್ಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿ ಹಾಕಿಕೊಂಡ ವೈದ್ಯಕೀಯ ಸಚಿವರು

Plywood roof feeds mezzanine fire



CLOSE CALL:Fire personnel douse the blaze at Shantharam Centre in Shanthinagar in Bangalore on Tuesday.

BANGALORE: A fire broke out in the mezzanine floor of a three-storey building under construction near the hockey stadium at Shantinagar here on Tuesday owing to the alleged negligence of the owner. The owner was trying to build a false roof using plywood on the mezzanine, which provided perfect fuel to the blaze. While nobody was injured, property estimated to be worth several lakh rupees was lost. Fire-fighters, who doused the conflagration within the hour, conceded that a slight delay could have allowed it to spread to the nearby building, which has several residential apartments. The cause is suspected to be an electrical short-circuit, according to K.U. Ramesh, Chief Fire Officer (Bangalore East), who oversaw the operation. He said the building's owner had secured a temporary electrical connection from a nearby power line. The entire construction activity, including welding and sawing, was being powered by this electrical line, putting the power source under tremendous pressure. “To make matters worse, all the safety measures were missing,” Mr. Ramesh said, pointing out that the building did not even have enough setback area to allow entry of fire engines. This forced the fire tenders to park their vehicles on the main road running through Shantinagar that connects Hosur Road and Lalbagh double Road. Asked if the building had a No Objection Certificate from the fire department, Mr. Ramesh said that it was not necessary as it was not a high-rise.