Mini fire tenders flagged off

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fire and Rescue Services Commandant General S Pulikeshi flagged off 16 new mini fire tenders procured by the service on Tuesday. The launch was held at the Chakkai unit of the service.The service has gone in for smaller and more compact vehicles after finding them more suited to the narrow streets in Kerala. Some of the features of the mini tenders include ‘Aska’ lamps capable of illuminating a large area around the vehicles and fixed pumps atop the vehicles for close-quarter spraying of water.But its most important feature is that the pumps are capable of spraying water at high pressure at twice the power of pumps on conventional tenders. As much as 1,800 litres can be sprayed in this manner, Fire officials said.The vehicles were fabricated in Hyderabad. Thirteen of the vehicles are meant for other districts. The Chenkalchoola unit in Thiruvananthapuram will get two units, of which one will be a spare tender, and Varkala will get the remaining one.