Fire Brigade Department to remain on toes today

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 18

Staff of the Fire Brigade Department will remain on toes and will maintain high vigil during the festival of Diwali, as chances of breakouts of fire are high during the festival of lights.

The eight-hour long duty hours have been stretched to 12 hours and all day offs have been cancelled.

Assistant Divisional Fire Officer Kashmir Singh said he had been with the department for 39 years and he rarely ever celebrated the festival with his family.

He said on an average two fire-breakout cases were reported daily and this figure increases to nearly 20 on the day of Diwali. “So we have to increase the vigil level days ahead of Diwali”, he remarked.

His wife, Sukhwinder Kaur, said over these long years, all family members have become habitual of spending Diwali night without him. She said they had the satisfaction that her husband was out there to serve people in the hour of their need.

His sons, Jaskirat Singh and Amrik Singh, grew up watching their father going out on his job while providing them enough sweets and crackers to enjoy their Diwali.

Sub-fire officer Raj Anthony was posted in the night shift. His family comprising his wife Rita, daughter Nidhi and son Titus Paul never made Raj aware of his absence during the festival. “For us, his job is the top priority”, said Rita.

Fireman Varinder Kumar said some major fire accidents had taken place in the city on the Diwali nights. So, nothing can be left to chance.

Against a sanctioned strength of about 120 posts, nearly 80 employees are working here. The Fire Brigade Department here is equipped with 14 fire tenders, each having 5,000-litre water capacity, and five small tenders, each having 500-litre water capacity. These fire tenders are to be placed at different locations in the city to ensure early mobility towards the accident spot, anywhere in the city.