Port Blair, Apr 14: The A&N Police Fire Service is observing the Fire Service Week from 14th to 20th April this year. The Theme for this year is “Learn Fire Safety, Increase Productivity”.
The Fire Service Week is organized every year in memory of a major fire incident that occurred on 14th April 1944 at Victoria Harbour in Mumbai, in which 336 persons died and 1040 were injured. Out of 336 who died, 68 were Officers and Jawans of the Mumbai Fire Brigade. The tragedy occurred when a ship namely “SS FORT STRIKINE” loaded with explosive materials exploded while berthing at Jetty causing a fire in several other vessels berthed in the wharf.
Fire Service Week commenced with the observance of Commemoration Day to pay homage to those brave officers and men of the Mumbai Fire Brigade who lost their lives during the firefighting operation. Mrs. Geetanjali Khandelwal, IPS, Superintendent of Police (Fire Service) was the chief guest on the commemoration day parade.
In her address, the chief guest highlighted the duties and responsibilities of Fire service personnel for the safety of life and property of the Islanders and also about the role of Fire Service personnel in the event of any type of disaster on these Islands.
She appreciated the Fire Service personnel of A&N Islands for being alert and attentive in their job and exhorted them to maintain a high degree of professionalism while fighting against fire and disaster in these Islands. A two minutes silence was observed at the Fire Service parade ground in the memory of those Fire Service personnel who sacrificed their lives during discharge of duty in the year 2021.
The names of the martyrs are Mr. Rabindra Mishra, Leading Fireman, Bihar Fire Service and Mr. Balu Damu Deshmukh, Fireman Rescuer, MIDC, Maharashtra Fire Service. At last, there was a fleet march of Fire Service vehicles in the Port Blair Municipal area to promote awareness among the public about fire prevention.
