Delhi’s young fire fighters share tales of courage, inspiration

On International Firefighters Day, May 4, we speak to fire operators serving in the Delhi Fire Service about their experiences of saving countless lives in the Capital.

When thick clouds of smoke and huge flames engulf you, your only hope of survival are the firefighters who turn up as soon as you dial 101. These uniformed men, armed with safety equipments, rush to rescue lives in the hour of need. On International Firefighters Day, today, meet some of the young unsung heroes at the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), who put their lives at stake everyday.

Fire operators Amit Rana, Neeraj Sehrawat, Sarvesh Dhaka and Ashish Malik are some of the young members of Delhi Fire Service. (Photos: Gokul VS/HT)

Some like Neeraj Sehrawat, 35, a fire operator in service since 2007 say “serving the nation and its citizens” is in their blood. “My father was a fauji, and that love we have to serve the nation led me to take up firefighting as a profession,” says the Delhiite, sharing, “Everyday we have a new battle to win bout the one incident that’s etched in my memory is an accident call that took place circa 2020 near the Delhi-Meerut Expressway where a couple aged around 22 was stuck in a car after a head-on collision with a truck coming from the wrong side. They were unconscious. The boy had head injuries, the girl’s legs were broken and she was bleeding profusely from both thighs. We cut the door of the car and the first thing I did was take off my T-shirt to use it to apply pressure on her wounds and put them both in the ambulance. Thankfully, we managed to save them lekin yeh humare liye roz ki baat hai. Roz ki calls hoti hain, but those youngsters... wo mann mein hain. In my 13 years of service, we have saved hundreds of lives and that’s a matter of pride for me.”

Sehrawat says he wanted to become a firefighter since a very young age.

Sarvesh Dhaka, 37, too followed in the footsteps of his father who served at DFS from 1980 to 2013. “I grew up in the family quarters, even my brother-in-law is in DFS. This is a legacy for my family. I studied Bachelor in Computer Engineering at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, but my heart was always here in joining DFS as soon as I become eligible,” he shares, adding, “Today, I have two children. My son is four and daughter is two. Although quite young, my son has already told me about his plans to join the service. I would love if my daughter also grows up to become a firefighter. There is visible lack of female officers in our department in Delhi as compared to other major states. In certain cases when females fall unconscious during a fire and their clothes are torn, they feel vulnerable. That’s where we feel we need to train our daughters as well to save lives. Although for us, it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman when a life has to be saved. The Dhaka family will always have good blood fighting to save lives (smiles).”

Dhaka’s father was in DFS and he hopes his son as well as daughter continue the family legacy.

Some fighters feel the impact of tragedies days after encountering an incident. “The biggest fire I have seen till date was the one at the Anaj Mandi in December 2019. We lost 43 lives that day. The local fire station was already working at the site when we reached and found someone inside who was conscious and making distress calls,” recalls Ashish Malik, 34, who completed his BTech in Fire Safety from Rohtak, recalling, “Instead of 1 we found 11 people who were alive and managed to rescue them in time. I even received a cash prize from an NGO for my exemplary work. But the recognition is not the reason why we put out our lives at stake, everyday. There are times when people express gratitude, some are so sweet that they offer us edibles such as fruits after the fire is doused. We feel humbled.”

Rana has been applauded for his delivering his duty well during the Anaj Mandi tragedy.

Some like Amit Rana, 36, feel although he didn’t study beyond class XII, but his life found a purpose when he joined the fire services. Called as ‘man with a body of steel’ by his seniors, Rana says, “Every incident that I’ve been too since 2016, there have been no casualties. I feel lucky and blessed to claim that. Even in March this year, a fire broke out at a factory near Pul Bangash Metro Station where 18 fire tenders were rushed. The conditions were very poor due to excessive smoke and low visibility, and suddenly the 10 of us who had gone inside heard a loud thud. The building started collapsing and the entire force had to backtrack. That day I felt all of us could have died, and a few of us even sustained some injuries. But, thankfully, again there were no casualties.”

Rana is desribed by his superiors as ‘the man with a body of steel’.

How to avoid fire breakout:

- Don’t plug too many electrical appliances in one socket.

- Use metal ashtrays to dispose off cigarettes and matchsticks.

- Keep paper, cloth and flammable liquids away from the heaters/stoves.

- Keep the fire escape routes/staircase free of obstructions.

- Keep LPG stoves on a raised platform and not on the floor. Turn off the main knob of the cylinder when not in use.

Author tweets @KritiKambiri

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