Feature: Fire Bike – Red Riding Rescuer

Travelling on a bike daily in one of the most congested cities on the planet, I have a clear advantage over my fellow public road users, the diminutive amount of space needed to squeeze through gaps in traffic. This trump card has now been capitalised upon by one of the most crucial organisations of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the Mumbai Fire Brigade, which has taken a less-is-more approach with this – the Fire Bike.

YES, IT’S NEEDED!

This rather petite (in relation to an actual fire engine) first response vehicle is meant to not only slice through our traffic more easily, but also to access places that a conventional fire engine simply can’t get to. Picture the narrow by-lanes of Bandra or the tiny little alleys in the depths of Dharavi and you can see why the Fire Bike is such a great asset to the Fire Brigade.

AV Parab, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Mumbai.

Speaking to some of the distinguished firemen we had the pleasure of interacting with, we learned that the response time for the Fire Bike is, on average, 5 minutes less than the larger vehicles that are dispatched at the same time. That’s a big gap, which could prove to be the difference between life and death. With these learnings, the Mumbai Fire Brigade also uses the Fire Bike as a messenger of sorts, which goes ahead and conveys the severity of the situation, helping the officers decide what’s the best course of action and the measures needed to get the fire in control.

FAMILIAR FACE

The Fire Bike is a handsome machine that has an air of ruggedness to it (no surprise considering it’s based on a Royal Enfield Bullet 350) and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything else like it on our roads. For starters, there’s the front batwing fairing, enveloped in a sticker of flames, which is very custom Harley-like, to my eyes, at least. Then, the body panels and the two rear-mounted water tanks are finished in a deep, bright red colour. Speaking of tanks, the total capacity is 30 litres, split into two 15-litre units on either side. We’re told that this is down from the earlier total capacity of 40 litres, because that set-up was becoming a little too heavy.

Small Honda petrol engine mounted at the rear powers the water pump.

What’s that contraption at the rear, you ask? It’s a petrol-powered, hand-start Honda motor, driving a pump that can spray water at a rate of 8 litres per minute, up to around 20 feet. For electrical fires, it carries a fire extinguisher mounted inside the front crash guard. Of course, to my childish mind, the foremost things a fire engine needs are a siren and flashing lights and the Fire Bike has those boxes ticked off as well. All this adds to the weight, and putting this 250kg+ bike on the centre stand required Zaran and me to huff and puff more than the big bad wolf!

Weighs over 250kg, and you feel it on the move.

You also feel this heft (and its distribution) when riding. With 30 litres of water and a lawnmower engine right at the back, the front end feels very light and floaty, and our short time proved that a fully loaded Fire Bike is not an easy thing to ride. But as with most bikes, it’s about building confidence, and you soon get used to the bike’s behaviour, though you’ve got to respect the men in uniform who hustle this motorcycle to an emergency situation as quickly as possible.

SMALL PACKAGE, BIG HELP

The Mumbai Fire Brigade currently has 24 of these (one in each ward), and I’m sure by now the question on everyone’s minds is, how much does all of it cost? The answer, we’re told, is a cool Rs 9 lakh per motorcycle. This includes the R&D and modifications done to the bike, and the 7-year service package offered to the Fire Brigade. Like most emergency-response vehicles, it has a price tag far higher than the vehicle it is based on, but having a vehicle like this can help swing the scales in someone’s favour, especially with a ticking clock, and that’s something you can’t put a price on. While this is the smallest vehicle in the Fire Brigade’s fleet, it is, without doubt, an important one, especially considering the unique challenges posed by our metropolis.

Also See:

Video: Experiencing Mumbai Fire Brigade's Fire Bike

Red Alert: A close look at Mumbai's fire brigade

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