For the Fire and Rescue Services Station in Aluva bang in the middle of a containment zone following the spread of COVID-19, two successive cases of infection among its ranks could not have come at a more inopportune time.
A fireman was tested positive on July 27, sending 16 of his colleagues into quarantine, badly affecting the functioning of the force, which is much in demand for disinfection and fumigation activities to avert potential contamination.
Before they could return, which they eventually did on Monday on completion of 14 days of quarantine, another fireman was tested positive on August 6, sending another four, including the assistant station officer, into quarantine in its wake. All five of them were residents of Thiruvananthapuram and had returned together to rejoin duty after a recess. Thankfully, the prospects of them further depleting the workforce at the station was avoided as they were straight away sent for testing and quarantine before they rejoined duty.
The station has a total staff strength of 42 out of which five remain vacant while another one person is on long leave, effectively reducing the total number of personnel on duty to 36 out of which some will be on leave or off at any given time.
“We are already on a seven-day work, seven-day rest working arrangement. So, when 16 went into quarantine, the remaining 12 persons split into teams of six each and worked continuously for the next fortnight. None of them went home during the two weeks and stayed back at the station all through,” said K.V. Ashokan, Aluva Station Officer.
What helped the station to cope during the extremely stretched times were their colleagues from neighbouring stations of Perumbavoor, Angamaly and Eloor. While Aluva station continued to receive calls, trouble spots nearer to the neighbouring stations were attended by firefighters from those stations.
“Our trained civil defence volunteers were also of much help as they attended to non-fire incidents and our involvement were largely reduced to incidents demanding firefighting. That the spectre of flooding was not as bad as anticipated also turned out to be a blessing,” said Mr. Ashokan.
Fortunately, only Aluva out of the 15 stations in the district has so far reported positive cases among their men. Along with health and police departments, Fire and Rescue Services are also among the forefront of fighting the pandemic.
