Fire fighters had a tough time putting out the flames on the higher floors of Nandaram Market during the 100-hour blaze in January 2008

Basanta Polai, who held the fire department to ransom last week by perching himself on the edge of the 12th floor terrace of the Indian Chamber of Commerce building at India Exchange Place, would have his 30 minutes of fame drastically reduced if he were to repeat his feat around Puja.

The fire department, which is on a modernisation drive, has placed orders for a 70-metre-high Bronto Skylift from Finland and a host of other equipment and vehicles that should reach Calcutta in three or four months, said Gopal Bhattacharya, the director of fire and emergency services.

“The purchases will make Calcutta the city with the best fire preparedness in India,” he claimed. The skylift ladder, capable of reaching up to the 21 floor, would come in handy if there is an emergency in a highrise building. The tallest buildings in Calcutta are the 35-storey towers of South City.

“According to the National Building Norms, all tall buildings must have a rescue area of 1,500sq ft for every 24 floors, where people of the higher floors can gather during an emergency. The Bronto Skylift will help us rescue people stuck in higher floors,” Bhattacharya said.

“We are also buying a 50-metre turntable ladder from Japan,” he said. The large ladder is mounted on a turntable on the back of a truck, allowing it to pivot around a stable base, which helps it reach higher. The turntable and the skylift can, however, navigate only wide roads.

The director also stressed that tall buildings must have in-built fire prevention systems with self-activating sprinklers.

The fire department is also procuring 22 water dowsers, which can carry 40 kilolitres of water each, and 15 water tenders with a capacity of 2,200 litres each.

“The higher storage capacity will boost our efficiency as the tenders will not have to go back and forth to fill water, as they had to during the Nandaram Market fire last year,” said a fire department officer.

Other items on the department’s shopping list are 1,100 metres of the “best available quality of hose pipe”, 50 portable pumps, tyres and tubes and personal protection equipment, including fire suits and breathing apparatus.

The purchases are being funded by the Calamity Relief Fund.