With the city celebrating Mumbai's Fire Service Week 2010 till Tuesday, Somita Pal scans the Mumbai Fire Brigade's 300-odd year-old history to put together a pastiche of little-known facts
With the city celebrating Mumbai's Fire Service Week 2010 till Tuesday, Somita Pal scans the Mumbai Fire Brigade's 300-odd year-old history to put together a pastiche of little-known facts
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1944: When Sobo burned
The Great Bombay Dock Explosions of April 1944 are an unforgettable part of the Bombay Fire Brigade and the city's history.
A fire broke out in the ship SS Fort Stikins berthed at number 1, Victoria Docks. Laden with ammunition, cotton bales, oil drums and bullion, it was the seat of a series of explosions. The entire dock area and
neighbouring civilian locations were left in flames, streets strewn with corpses and animal carcasses.
The Brigade remembers the tragedy for the sacrifice of 66 of its heroic officers and men, who laid down their lives at the altar of duty. In recognition, the citizens of Bombay erected a Memorial Column at the Fire Brigade Headquarters, with the Government of India declaring April 14 as Fire Services Day.
1777
Year in which the Bombay Fire Brigade was set up. It was the first organised fire service to be established in India.
1803
Year in which the Great Bombay Fire broke out within Fort. It consumed nearly a third of the town within the fort walls.
1855
Year in which the Police Force was discharging dual duties of maintaining law
and order, and fire fighting.
1887
On April 1, 1887, the dual control of the brigade ended and complete control was transferred to the municipality.
1907
Year in which the first petrol-driven motor fire engine was received and commissioned.
1923
An Indian was appointed in the officer cadre, earlier the sole preserve of the British.
1944
The Bombay Dock Explosions killed 66 officers and men of the fire brigade. Several were left disabled.
1948
MG Pradhan was appointed Chief Fire Officer, making him the first Indian to hold this distinction.
1983
A turntable ladder of 50 metres (165 ft), the tallest ladder in the country, was commissioned for firefighting.
2004
Year in which the first search and rescue team was formed.
Of horses and handpumps
The Mumbai Fire Brigade's early history is marked by the use of hand pumps and horses that drew steam engines. The colloquial word that the city uses for the fire engine is 'bamba'
Thumbs down for
With bouquets come brickbats. Here's the not-so-good side to the city's fire brigade department:
>>Not being prepared for chemical warfare
>>Not a single woman in the fireu00a0 force
>>Can't carry out rescue operations in towers more than 22 storeys high
>>Former Fire Chief Officer AD Jhandwal being accused of clearing an NOC without inspecting fire fighting equipment in a society in Dadar. Case was registered at Powai police station.
Number of fire stations
33
Spread all over the island city across a 437.91 Sq km area.
Headquarter at: Byculla. Suburban Headquarter: Marol.Force: Includes
2,400 trained fire personnel.
Job: To save lives and property threatened by fire. Also renders services during house collapse, drowning, tree collapse, and rescues the occasional stranded owl.
His salary: Rs 4 a day
Colonel Lee was offered Rs 4 per day "for his trouble of superintending the fire-engines", all of which were hand-operated.
Number of calls they received in 2009-2010
Fire -- 4,827
Other services including tree collapse -- 4,956
Rescue service -- 6,442
House collapse -- 312
Prank calls -- 45
False alarms -- 77
The London connection
Like Mumbai, the London fire brigade also has a monument built in memory of a major fire in 1966. The Monument to the Great Fire of London is a 202 ft (61.57 metre) tall stone Roman Doric column near the northern end of London Bridge. It's located at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 ft (61.57 metres) from where the Great Fire of London started in 1666.
Unbreakable
The only fire engine that wasn't destroyed in the 1944 fire is exhibited at the Headquarters at the ongoing Fire Safety Week.
COMING UP
April 20 (5 pm to 7 pm)
Concluding mass commemoration parade event of the Fire Services Week, and prize distribution at Cross Maidan, Dhobi Talao. Call: 26871144
Log on to: www.maharashtrafireservices.org
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