BENGALURU: Senior fireman HS Vardharajan was at the site of the recent building collapse near Ejipura, removing debris using earth movers. “I was removing heavy walls off the ground when another fireman heard a feeble cry,” he says. “I got down from the earth mover, went towards the wall, removed a portion of the wall and found this 3 year old child crying.”
Sanjana was found shivering in pain, shock and trauma. “Her left hand was holding a button on my uniform shirt and, in her panic, she broke it. She was sobbing and yelling for her mother looking at me.” The firemen were thrilled to have found her alive, and they made plans for her. “We thought of adopting her, providing her free education,” says Varadarajn. But Sanjana died from multiple organ failure three days after, and the rescue personnel were left devastated.
“It is a tough job,” says NR Markendeya, Deputy Director of the Karnataka Fire Service. “We try to keep calm and save as many lives as possible. But our officers are human and sight of a building collapse or burnt and mutilated bodies would affect them too. Then their training kicks in and we focus on what needs to be done… we have even recovered hundreds of dead bodies after a train or air accident”.
A 2011 study, published in a peer-reviewed journal, says that firefighters show symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome over the years. Infact, senior personnel are more at risk, it says. The top three signs of trouble noted were trouble sleeping, feeling irritable/angry and being hyper-alert.
This story however said that younger personnel are more likely to resort to positive coping mechanisms, such as reaching out to others for emotional support. Thirty-two-year-old Chandrappa says that his early days were difficult. “I used to be scared seeing dismembered bodies,” he says, adding that training helped over time. “Our routine is hectic and we have little time for family. There is an emergency every other day and we have to rush to the spot. Then we do not think about anything else except reaching there in time and saving lives.”
NR Markendeya still remembers the bellowing flames from the Carlton Towers fire, in 2010. “I was the officer in charge,” he says. “The lift service was in flames and then it spread to higher floors and injured about 70 people. During the fire, we saw people breaking open windows and jumping out of the building. It was not easy for us, but we kept reassuring others".
The 2011 study noted that the top-five coping mechanisms were “acceptance, humour, religion and positive re-framing”. Positive reframing is basically seeing the glass half-full.
‘Lack of civic sense’
HS Vardharajan blames negligence and a lack of civic sense for many of these accidents. “If it is a natural calamity, it is understandable… but what about people living in illegal constructions without proper fire-safety equipment. People are careless like when they use gas cylinders, all of this contributes to an accident. There are more than 2,000 illegally constructed buildings in the city and there are more that do not keep fire safety equipment. People don’t realise their value untill something drastic happens.”
‘Onlookers often panic and makes situations worse’
Bystanders can slow down an operation with their curiosity and panic. Vardharajan shares his experience from a gas-cylinder blast site in Davanagere: “I do not understand why people from far-off places come and assemble near the accident site and create more panic. This is not theatre, we are doing a serious operation rescuing people. In Davangere, it was a minor accident but onlookers made it worse by panicking and making others anxious. When there is an emergency, everyone jumps in to become a fireman”.