RAWALPINDI (Online) - The performance of city fire department is improving; however, there is more need to raise its standard. An official of fire department Rawalpindi on condition of anonymity told Online due to low budget for the department, proper standards could not be maintained. 'It is authority of Rawalpindi District Government and Provincial government to decide annual budget. If we receive more funds, performance of the department will also improve, he said. Responding to a question, the official said, the number of fire tenders working in debasement should be increased to a significant level so as to cover the entire area of Rawalpindi. He asserted that the people are aware of how to tackle fire situations but the designs of buildings are a major barrier to extinguishing fires because most buildings dont even have emergency exits. 'There should be emergency exits in all buildings so as to deal with any fire hazard situation, he informed. He appreciated the performance of the Punjab Government for taking steps to upgrade standards of the fire department, however, he added that there is always room for betterment and that there is need to take more efforts to raise image of fire department.