THE grand RM27mil Bandar Perda fire station in Bukit Mertajam is not only unique in its architecture but also in the service that it offers. It is the only fire station among the 15 in Penang that has a scuba diving unit.

State Fire and Rescue Department acting director (operations division) Supt Wan Azmi Ahmad said the station’s 21 licensed divers used sophisticated equipment to conduct marine search and rescue operations. “Our scuba rescue unit occasionally uses an underwater robot to help locate drowned victims.

“This US-made remote operating vehicle (ROV), which has a camera and lights, is connected to a control unit onboard a boat via a 150m-long cable. It also has a manipulator arm and propeller,” he said.

Supt Wan Azmi said the station also had a scuba rescue vehicle which also doubled up as a command post during water rescue operations. He said an old fire engine was reconditioned and turned into a scuba rescue vehicle, which was equipped with 11 scuba diving sets known as buoyancy control devices.

“The mobile unit has a total of 20 oxygen tanks, a generator compressor to refill the oxygen tanks, a spare boat engine and a tank of freshwater,” he said. Supt Wan Azmi added that the station also had an aluminium rescue boat to help transport victims, especially during flood evacuation operations.

He said the divers, who were trained by the Royal Malaysian Navy in Lumut, would undergo 10 hours of compulsory diving training at the Penang International Sports Arena swimming pool every month.

“They usually go underwater as a team where they are physically connected to each other with a harness rope that is controlled by a safety personnel onboard a boat,” he said.