In the heat of the moment

Emergency careers such as paramedical teams, bomb disposal squads and fire-fighting services may be on the wane in Pakistan. This is hardly surprising given the fact that their personnel are almost defenceless, not only hostage to calamities but often their easiest prey as well. Unfortunately, with Karachi’s recent spate of arson and other unexplained incidents of fire, it has been the city’s firemen — who maintain a pitiable strength of ten station fire officers at the 21 fire stations in the megapolis — who have taken the most heat.

A recent tragedy in this regard was the death last month of 42-year-old Mohammed Yasin, who succumbed to perfectly treatable wounds at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Yasin received a minor spinal injury while battling a deadly blaze that broke out in a Site warehouse last January, and also lost seven fellow firemen to the same flames. Doctors had promised a speedy recovery for Yasin but he eventually died unsung nearly a year later; complications triggered by negligence and bed sores took him.

Another story that is not too different from their own may perhaps be of some solace to Yasin’s hapless family. In March 2005, Moinuddin died of cardiac arrest caused by smoke inhalation during a fire operation in Cattle Colony. And scores of unrecorded victims have paid out of their own impoverished pockets to recover from injuries received whilst on duty.

These are lives that could have been among us today. Their loss is the sad outcome of the fact that aside from contending with mishaps at hand, firemen fight on countless unseen fronts. The most severe blow is dealt by the abject absence of protection covers: from the lack of technical support and financial security to the dearth of free healthcare. Despite the hazardous nature of the profession, the fire corps is treated as little more than stuntmen. Quite apart from the meagre salaries, the insurance facility of Rs100,000 makes for a shameful compensation for disability.

Other than the fact that such a crucial force is trained on the job, the miserable state of its protection apparatus is a killer in itself. Instead of special boots, heat-resistant clothing and special firemen’s helmets designed to protect the head, neck as well as the spine, the fire department decks its personnel out in regular gear. Meanwhile, the department is fast running out of extinguishers and hose pipes, while marginal perks such as the provision of seasonal uniforms have bit the dust.

Reportedly, the city government has issued instructions that make fire extinguishers, escapes, smoke detectors and alarms mandatory in residential buildings and commercial plazas, which will cut human losses and help fire-fighters. Nevertheless, it seems that heartbreaking incidents such as that of Moinuddin and then Yasin have failed to jolt the authorities out of their callous stupor. Other than arm commercial hubs, they have done virtually nothing for the already dejected, and therefore apathetic, corps.

The fire department’s predicament is rooted in the lack of training and professionalism. There is a dire need for instruction facilities that, like in the rest of the world, enable a fireman to double as a paramedic and vice versa. He should be taught to gauge ‘fire behaviour’ through heat and flame, which has to be incorporated with mechanisms installed in a particular site to complete a successful rescue mission. Fire-fighters should also be equipped to execute fire prevention methods that include the inspection of fire-protection machinery at various locations and handle hazardous materials such as certain chemicals and explosives. Needless to say, the flames witnessed in Karachi recently make it imperative for the city’s fire personnel to be trained in advanced procedures, particularly anti-arson and disaster vigilance. Unless these instruments of safety are in place and firmly supervised, the city will continue to mourn the deaths of its life-savers.