Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence History

The British government founded the Fire Service in undivided India in 1939-40. The Calcutta Fire Service for the city of Calcutta at the regional level during the Partition and the Bengal Fire Service for Bengal (in Kolkata) in undivided Bengal. In 1947, the fire service in the area was renamed as East Pakistan Fire Service. Similarly, during the Second World War, the Department of Civil Defense in India was initially created as Air Raid Precautions (ARP) and later in 1951 as the Department of Civil Defense through legal process. For the purpose of work management, a department called Rescue Department was created under the Roads and Highways Department. On 9 April 1971, the then Fire Service Directorate and the Civil Defense Department were merged and established the Fire Service and Civil Defense Department.