In a significant push to the women community towards frontline on fighting the calamities and disasters, Tamil Nadu will soon see the women warriors on the front in battling the fire. The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services is all set to induct women as firefighters. The announcement of the new induction to the fleet was made by the fire department and has drawn attention from the masses.

Braj Kishore Ravi, the Director-General of Police (DGP) and the director of the fire department, said in a statement that the department has already sent a proposal to the government to induct women as firefighters. He said that he would initiate measures to modernise the department of Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue services with international standards and that the department will provide the best training to its personnel and equip them to face and address any challenge. 

He further said, "The academy (that is going to be established near Tambaram in Chennai) will also train personnel from other departments, including the police, in the protection, rescue, and relief of people and animals during calamity." It must be noted that the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services has 22 women officers currently, no woman has been trained or employed as a firefighter so far, making the induction of women into firefighting a historical moment for the women community. 

In his statement, the DGP has highlighted, "The Fire and Rescue Services is also in the process of developing a separate dog squad for the department and has bought four dogs for the purpose. These pups will undergo training at the National Training Centre for Dogs in Madhya Pradesh. The trained dogs will be deployed to detect the presence of people and animals that are trapped in debris in case of an event like a building collapse." 

According to IANS, Tamil Nadu's fire department will be training 1,00,000 people under the Safety Volunteers Scheme. There are only 5,000 trained volunteers under the scheme currently and the department expects these volunteers to be part of its response team to rescue people and animals that are in crisis and trapped during disasters. Currently, Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services is the second-largest fire department in India after Uttar Pradesh. Tamil Nadu fire department has 331 fire and rescue stations across the state with 7,347 active personnel.