The Bangalore fire department has decided to take lessons in rescue operations from the Mumbai Fire Brigade.

Officials from the Bangalore fire department visited their counterparts in Mumbai on Wednesday. During their interaction with the chief fire officer, the team expressed a desire to hire the services of a city fire official for fire-rescue lessons.

The Bangalore fire department was severely criticised following the death of nine persons after a fire broke out at the Carlton Towers on February 23. Apart from the ones that died, at least 50 people suffered injuries. After the incident, experts had questioned the ability of the Bangalore fire department to carry out rescue operations as fire fighters were struggling to save those trapped inside the eight-storey commercial complex.

The team studied the procedure adopted by the city fire brigade during rescue operations. Uday Tatkare, chief fire officer, said that the team also reviewed the fire-fighting machinery used by them. “They saw various rescue ladders and water monitors used by us,” he said.

The Bangalore firemen were also pulled up for not carrying a rescue ladder during the initial stages of fire fighting at the Carlton Towers. As per the standard operating procedure adopted by the Mumbai fire brigade, a rescue ladder apparatus always accompanies the first fire engine during a high-rise fire.