Dubai: Three new fire stations officially opened on Wednesday— and two more will be added later this year.
The official opening of Al Barsha centre was attended by senior civil defence officers and inaugurated by Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who witnessed a number of drills, including rescue and firefighting missions.
Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Acting Director General of UAE Civil Defence and Director General of Dubai Civil Defence, said in an interview that around Dh18 million went into building the new centre and Dh20 million on equipment, including one tool used in just two other countries.
That is the US-built "strong arm", designed to fight warehouse fires by drilling through brick walls and unleashing 60,000 litres of water.
It is operated by remote control, and has cameras to help firefighters navigate.
"This equipment is sufficient in ensuring the safety of our firefighters," said Maj Gen Al Matroushi said. "The riskiest job is firefighting. They are putting their lives in danger and their health for the safety of the public.
"We also do this to minimise the firefighter's exposure to poisonous smoke. The highest numbers of lung cancer patients worldwide are firefighters."
The other new stations opened yesterday were in Port Saeed and Lessilye areas. Stations will be opened in Al Manara and Marsa later.
Existing sations at Al Hamriya, Al Rashidiya, Satwa and Al Qusais will be restructured in the near future. The centres will also be built on environmentally friendly standards, said Maj. Gen. Al Matroushi.
The new centres have a circular shaped operations room on top of a five storey building, which overlooks the area the centre is responsible for covering.
