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As per RTI documents, the department requires 1,519 vehicles, but only 807 are currently operational. The reply said that 232 vehicles — fire engines, mini mobile structural training unit (MTUs), water trucks, ambulances, jeeps, crash tenders and recovery vehicles — were discarded from April 1, 2016, to May 21, 2026. The RTI reply also stated that the fire and rescue department hadn’t entered into a tie-up with any agency to fetch water required for firefighting during 2016-26.
Still, the fire and rescue department lacks adequate vehicles and equipment,” said Namboothiri. Three fire and rescue services personnel had died while on duty during the period, said the RTI reply. Kochi : Even as the number of accidents and fire outbreaks in the state is on the rise, the fire & rescue service is facing an acute shortage of vehicles. The disparity came to light in a reply received from the office of the director general of fire and rescue to an appeal filed by RTI activist K Govindan Namboothiri, a native of Mattancherry in Kochi. “Various vehicles and equipment are key for the operations of the fire and rescue services department. Moreover, the number of accidents, occurrences of fire outbreaks, etc, are on the rise. An MTU is a self-contained, trailer- or truck-mounted burn and rescue training simulator. The department normally fetches water from KWA’s pipelines and hydrant points.