A new fire station at Lake Town, which has come up near the Lake Town market, off VIP Road, started operations on Tuesday.
The station has three bays where at least three big fire tenders, each of which can carry 14,000 litres of water, can be parked.
Apart from the full-sized fire tenders, several fire-fighting motorcycles can be parked on the ground floor of the four-storeyed building.
Sujit Bose, the state fire and emergency services minister, said that apart from regular fire-fighting tools, the station will have fireballs and foam-based fire extinguishers.
Fireballs explode when they come in contact with fire and release a mix of aluminium and potassium sulphate, which cuts off oxygen supply to the fire and helps extinguish it. Foam-based extinguishers can douse chemical as well as electrical fires.
“This is the first fire station in Lake Town. Apart from Lake Town, it will cater to Sreebhumi, Dakshindari, Dum Dum Park and Bangur Avenue. These areas have developed exponentially and are dotted with multi-storeyed and standalone residential buildings as well as big and small commercial establishments. A fire station here was the need of the hour,” said Bose.
Earlier, whenever a fire was reported from these areas, fire tenders had to be sent from stations in neighbouring areas such as Maniktala, Sector V, Dum Dum and New Town.
The fire tenders would reach the areas through VIP Road or Jessore Road — two of the busiest thoroughfares in the city. “That would invariably lead to delays,” said an official in the fire services department.
“With the Lake Town facility becoming operational, our response time will improve.”
Minister Bose said a number of firefighting motorcycles equipped with fire extinguishers and communication devices will be kept at the fire station. The motorcycles can enter lanes and bylanes that are inaccessible to big fire tenders.
The fire station, which has come up at a cost of Rs 4 crore, also has living quarters for on-duty firemen and a recreation room.
A fire station in Deganga, North 24-Parganas, also started functioning on Tuesday.