Bhiwandi Fire Brigade Faces Acute Staff Crisis: 111 Vacancies, Overworked Crews, And Rising Warehouse Fire Risks

Bhiwandi: Bhiwandi's Fire Brigade, entrusted with protecting one of Maharashtra's largest warehousing and industrial hubs, is battling a crisis of its own. While the Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation (BMC) has invested in a fleet of 33 modern firefighting vehicles and advanced rescue equipment an acute shortage of manpower has left the department severely overstretched. With barely one-third of its sanctioned strength in place firefighters are being forced to respond to hundreds of emergencies each year raising serious concerns over the city's ability to handle large-scale fires and industrial disasters.

The situation assumes greater significance as the civic fire department is responsible not only for Bhiwandi city but also for the vast rural warehouse belt, where massive fires involving logistics parks, chemical stocks and industrial goods have become increasingly frequent. Fire officials and civic sources say the shortage of trained personnel is now the department's biggest operational challenge.

111 Vacancies Leave Fire Department Severely Understaffed

According to official records, the BMC Fire Department has 160 sanctioned posts, but only 49 regular employees are currently in service, leaving 111 vacancies unfilled.

The department has been functioning without a permanent Chief Fire Officer and Deputy Chief Fire Officer, with both responsibilities being handled by officers holding additional charge.

The staffing shortage is evident across every operational rank. Of the 12 sanctioned posts of Sub Station Officer, only one has been filled, while 11 remain vacant. Similarly, only one Driver Operator is available against 31 sanctioned posts, leaving 30 vacancies. The department also has just one Leading Fireman against 15 sanctioned posts, while 14 positions remain vacant. Out of 100 sanctioned Fireman posts, only 46 firefighters are currently available.

The manpower deficit has become so severe that the civic administration has been forced to deploy drivers from other municipal departments to operate firefighting vehicles during emergencies.

Modern Fleet Without Adequate Operators

Ironically, the department possesses one of the region's best-equipped municipal firefighting fleets.

Its inventory includes:

One Fire Water Tower

One Advanced Rescue Van

Eight Fire Engines

Five Multipurpose Foam Tenders

Five Water Browsers

Seven Mini Fire Engines

Two Fire and Rescue Vans (Devdoot and Gurkha)

One Fire Jeep

Three Fire Bikes

The department currently has 33 operational vehicles, but officials admit that several cannot be utilised to their full capacity because of inadequate manpower. Notably, all three fire bikes have remained idle for more than a year, despite being procured to improve emergency response in congested localities.

Growing Responsibility Across City and Rural Warehousing Hub

Bhiwandi has emerged as one of India's largest logistics and warehousing centres. While the municipal limits alone have a population of nearly 10 lakh, the population of the entire taluka is estimated at around 14 lakh.

Apart from densely populated residential areas, the Fire Department is also responsible for protecting thousands of warehouses spread across rural villages, where goods belonging to leading national and multinational companies are stored.

The increasing expansion of warehouse clusters has significantly widened the department's jurisdiction without a corresponding increase in manpower.

920 Fire Incidents Recorded in Four Years

Official figures reveal the scale of the challenge.

Between 2022 and 2025, the department responded to 920 fire incidents, including 519 cases within Bhiwandi city and 401 incidents in rural areas.

Firefighting operations in warehouse zones are particularly difficult due to heavy traffic congestion, narrow internal roads, poor infrastructure and limited water availability. Many warehouses also store highly combustible materials and chemicals, causing fires to burn for several days.

During major incidents, additional firefighting teams from Thane, Kalyan and Ulhasnagar are frequently called in to assist. However, the travel time often allows the fire to spread further, resulting in extensive property losses.

MMRDA Yet to Deliver Independent Fire Station

The continuing delay in establishing an independent fire station for the rural warehouse belt has also come under scrutiny.

The warehouse region, which houses over 50,000 warehouses, has remained under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) since 2009.

Despite collecting substantial development charges from warehouse projects, MMRDA is yet to operationalise a dedicated fire station for the area.

Official correspondence sent by MMRDA in 2021 in response to former Member of Parliament Kapil Patil stated that a meeting held on 7 July 2020 had approved the proposal for an independent fire station and that recruitment of officers and staff would begin shortly.

Nearly six years later, however, the project remains on paper, raising fresh questions over the authority's commitment to strengthening emergency response infrastructure in one of the country's busiest warehousing corridors.

Current Workforce

The Fire Department presently has 62 permanent employees, comprising:

One In-Charge Chief Fire Officer

One In-Charge Deputy Fire Officer

Fourteen Driver Operators/Drivers

Forty-one Firemen

Five Clerical Staff

In addition, 32 personnel are engaged on a contractual basis, including 20 Firemen and 12 Drivers.

Although the department has a combined workforce of 94, only 44 regular operational posts have been permanently filled, while 121 sanctioned positions continue to remain vacant.

With Bhiwandi witnessing rapid industrial growth and an increasing number of warehouse fires every year, fire safety experts believe that immediate recruitment, strengthening of operational staff and establishment of an independent fire station for the rural warehouse belt have become critical. Without urgent intervention, the city's firefighting capacity may struggle to keep pace with the growing risks posed by its expanding industrial landscape.

A proposal to recruit additional firefighters has already been submitted, and the recruitment process is currently underway. The induction of new personnel will significantly strengthen the Fire Department's operational capacity and ease the workload on existing firefighters said Nitin Chavan, Chief Fire Officer BNCM.

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