It was the last day on duty in the city for fireman S. Egaraj , who was killed in the fire accident in Kannadasan Nagar on Saturday night.
The 50-year-old fireman was deputed from Virudhunagar district to fill the shortage of fire personnel in the city.
Fireman, S. Egaraj, who was killed while fighting fire in Chennai on Saturday night.
Egaraj was trying to open the shutter of the shop when the cylinder inside burst, leaving the victim and two other firemen severely injured.
He succumbed to injuries in hospital. He was to return home on Monday.
Whether it is floods during monsoon or numerous incidents of fire during summer, firemen are always at the forefront, saving people and property despite the department facing a shortage of personnel and being ill-equipped in terms of safety gear.
According to sources, the Fire Department faces a 20% shortage of personnel with recruitment to fill the vacancies pending for a long while.
“All the firemen must be given individual protective equipment. Now, only one third of the personnel have the equipment,” says an officer requesting anonymity.
“The lack of safety gear to fight major fires gives us a tough time. A case in point is the fire at the Chennai Silks showroom that ravaged the entire building. We were blamed for not acting swiftly to douse the fire,” a fireman said.
CHENNAI, 16/07/2017 : For City : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswamy and Minister meeting some of the LPG cylinder blast burn injured victims at Stanley hospital on Sunday . Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Firemen claim that they are not well-equipped to fight fires or rescue people during natural calamities, particularly floods.
‘Mute spectators’
Citing the deluge of December 2015, a fire officer, who was engaged in rescue operations in flooded south Chennai, recalled that the rescue personnel had no boats or rafts and were mute spectators with boatmen taking over their work.
A senior officer says a training academy must be established, where firemen can be trained in all aspects of fire fighting and the use of new technology.
