Mumbai: Bhandup mall firefighters at COVID-19 risk

A week after the fire tragedy at Sunrise Hospital in Dreams Mall it has come to light that the firefighters and others who risked their lives rescuing 70 COVID19 patients may get infected by COVID19 Fire Chief Kailash Hiwrale has shown symptoms for mild COVID19 and was admitted to Nanavati hospital on March 31Senior fire officials told midday that Hiwrale had complained of chest congestion and breathing difficulty so an antigen test was done which was negative but he was still admitted and his swab for RTPCR was taken on Thursday evening The report is awaited However Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani confirmed that the fire chief has mild COVID19This brings to light the probable risk to over 100 firemen from across city fire stations who participated in the firefighting at Bhandup Highly placed fire officials informed midday that out of 2580 fire staff attached to Mumbai Fire Brigade between February 13 2021 and March 30 2021 1982 got the first dosage of the vaccine In the same period 983 also got the second doseMany firefighters are yet to get the second dose of the vaccineAccording to sources within the fire department Fire Chief Hiwrale was present throughout the night last week on March 25 at Dreams the Mall supervising and directing the rescue and firefighting operations He was unwell for the past few daysldquoFor the Bhandup fire nearly 60 different types of fire engines and vehicles with over 200 firemen and officers were deployed Of these men and officers nearly 10 per cent had at some point entered the premisesrdquo said a fire officialInterestingly a senior fire officer added ldquoWe had given PPE kits to the firemen who were in direct contact with COVID patients All patients were shifted to hospitals in 108 ambulancesrdquoNo decontamination vehiclesUnfortunately the Mumbai fire brigade does not have decontamination vans to tackle such situations The only vehicle that could have been used for decontamination is the hazmat van a chemical hazard combat vehicle to tackle a chemical blaze or leak of radioactive or nuclear material etc It was imported from Slovenia in January 2019 for R7 crore and stationed at the Byculla headquarters Currently hazmat vans are also being used world over to decontaminate firefighting equipment amidst the pandemicAccording to M V Deshmukh former Director Maharashtra Fire Services and advisor to the state government ldquoCTIF The International Association of Fire and Rescue Services a worldwide organisation working for firefighters safety since 1900 has used the hazmat van and is coming up with innovative techniques to decontaminate firemenrsquos gear and their tools post the COVID19 pandemic outbreak A fire rescue cannot be carried out wearing a PPE kit as it is not made of fire retardant materialsrdquoldquoThe hazmat van could have been used to disinfect the firemen and tools which had come in direct contact with the COVID patients Some level of decontamination could have been possible Fire Chief Hiwrale could have opted to control the situation from the command centre instead of leading the force from front considering his age and comorbid health conditions The firemen and disaster team need to plan for all such eventualities in futurerdquo said DeshmukhAnother former fire officer also said that the hazmat van could have been used to decontaminate to some extent though it is not a vehicle meant for handling viruses The officer further added ldquoIt is not practically possible for the Fire Chief to handle a situation from the command centre Mumbai Fire Brigade history has always shown that the Fire Chief leads the team from the front which also helps to boost the fire force moralerdquoThe other sideAsked if anyone other than the Fire Chief has shown symptoms or tested positive Suresh Kakani Additional Commissioner said no and added ldquoIt is not clear how the Fire Chief got infected As an administrative head even after the Bhandup fire he might have visited other places so it is not clear But he is better and under observationrdquoKakani said ldquoWe have asked all the firemen who fought the Bhandup fire to closely monitor their health for three days and in case of any early symptoms a special testing and fever clinic is available at the Fire Brigade head quarters at Byculla The set up also has a 20bed quarantine facility where firemen with mild symptoms can be kept and later shifted to bigger centres if requiredrdquoAsked about the fire precautions at Jumbo centres and COVID hospitals Kakani said ldquoAlready directives have been given to all jumbo COVID centres private COVID hospitals and other set ups to conduct mandatory fire and structural audits Wherever adequate firefighting equipment is required directives have been given to get the same Fire drills are also conducted now at all jumbo centres and at COVID hospitals Fire engines and firemen are deployed at the Jumbo centresrdquoMar 25When the fire broke out at the hospital in the mall