Response unit to act fast on major fires

By Jayampathy Jayasinghe

A Special Response Unit will be set up shortly to act swiftly on major fires and emergency calls in the Colombo city and the suburban areas a spokesman for the

Colombo Municipal Council's Fire Department told the "Sunday Observer". The Special Response Unit will be housed at the Fire Training Centre, to be built with funds from the Netherlands government. It will be a four-storied building at Roxywatte, Wellawatte.

Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, Janaka Bandara Tennankoon has been instrumental in obtaining 30 million Euros from the Netherlands government for the purpose. Of this amount 10 million Euros is an out-right grant to the Sri Lanka government while the remaining amount is a soft loan from the Netherlands government.

The Special Response Unit will be manned by 33 fire fighters who will be trained in the Netherlands. A batch of 16 fire fighters who had undergone training in fire fighting methods have returned from the Netherlands while another batch has already left for the Netherlands for training.

According to the City's Fire Chief, Jayampathy Kannangara, the fire fighters are expected to work in three shifts to respond to any emergency calls.

The Fire Training Centre is expected to be completed by April next year. When asked whether the Colombo Fire Brigade is competent to tackle high rise building fires, he said the Fire Brigade will soon receive a 42 metre high vehicle for the purpose.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministry has embarked on a plan to upgrade the fire fighting services in the Western province. The Netherlands government has already granted eight vehicles, including four ambulances, two Backhoe vehicles and two transport vehicles for the purpose.

The Fire Chief said the proposed Special Response Unit will receive 12 more vehicles for fire fighting next month. The ministry has already set up 18 Fire Stations in the Western Province and will upgrade it to 22 stations covering the entire country including the North-East provinces.