Rescuing pets to cleaning oil spills, fire department does it all

NEW DELHI: From rescuing animals trapped on pillars and trees, to cleaning monuments and oil spills on roads, Delhi Fire Services has become the go-to department

NEW DELHI: From rescuing animals trapped on pillars and trees, to cleaning monuments and oil spills on roads, Delhi Fire Services has become the go-to department for all services in the city.

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Only 33% out of the total 105,000 calls that the helpline 101 got in 2015 was fire related, showed official data.

Pawan Kumar, a 34-year-old fireman with the Bhikaji Cama Place fire station, said, “There are days when we do work other than just firefighting. Once, two fire tenders were sent to rescue a pet dog from the parapet of a residential building. The dog had jumped onto the extension from the roof and was unable to climb either back up or down to the balcony. We used the staircase to get the dog out,” said Kumar.

He said he has been sent to rescue trapped pigeons and cats from high-rise buildings. If the rescued animal is a stray, they even have to drop it off at the nearest veterinary hospital.

The fire department also rescues road-accident victims trapped in their vehicles. Though the Delhi Police is informed about the accident, it is the fire department that conducts the rescue operation, said officials, requesting anonymity.

In 2014, there was an oil spill spreading over 20 metres on National Highway-8 when an oil tanker crashed into a road divider. It took 25 fire officials and 12 fire tenders 10 hours to rescue the tanker occupants and clean the spill. Otherwise, commuters would have slipped on the lubricant.

Whenever Archaeological Survey of India-recognised monuments are cleaned, the DFS team is called to help. Their Brontos, a crane-like machine, proves useful.

“We are a rescue department and our motto is to not say no to any call of distress, unless it is completely beyond our capability to attend to it. Our job is to save lives and that includes the lives of animals in distress and also situations that potentially put lives of people in danger,” said Delhi Fire Services director, GC Mishra.