Firefighters in the district will soon be riding on red coloured Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycles equipped with Advanced Firefighting Technology (AFT) in order to beat traffic and cut through narrow lanes to quickly respond to fire incidents.
The bikes will be helpful in cutting through trafficcongestion and go through narrow lanes and crowded areas where fire tenders struggle to enter.
Other cities, including Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, have firefighters on motorcycles but this is being introduced for the first time in Gurugram.
As of now, the fire department has received eight motorcycles. It features two AFTs with 9 litres of water each on both sides of the bike, a gun to discharge the water, a first aid kit, an oxygen cylinder which would make pressure for the release of water, 750 ml of foam in a machine. The cost of each motorcycle is more than eight lakh.
However, officials believe that these bikes can be used to douse small fires only as they can release water only up to 10 meters.
The bikes have been deployed at Sector-29, 37, Udyog Vihar, Bhim Nagar and Manesar fire stations.
“The bullet bikes will be fitted with a fire-fighting kit as a backpack and two 9 litres water cylinders. The backpack will also have a first aid kit and oxygen packs for the firefighters.
We are reviewing the performance of the bikes. There are a number of technical things which need to be considered before introducing these bikes. It is currently under process” said Ishwar Singh Kashyap, Senior Fire Officer.
Fire brigade officials are considering to deploy such bikes at locations where fire stations are further than usual and fire engines take a lot of time to reach the site.
“Reaching the destination on time is difficult in Gurugram because of the traffic jams. The two-wheeled firefighters will reach the destination faster than fire tenders,” said a fire official.