HYDERABAD:Dharamvir Singh, Superintendent, Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) of GMR Hyderabad International Airport received the Sourya Pathakam recently and this is the first time that this state award has been given to a non-government personnel.
On June 14, 2017, the ARFF Watch Tower Control at GMR Hyderabad International Airport received a call regarding a fire in the Anupama Hotel at Shamshabad. On receipt of the call and after approvals from the superiors, immediately, an Airport Fire Fighting vehicle was dispatched by GHIAL at 0635hr, with Dharamvir as the team lead along with two crew and one vehicle operator. “On reaching the site, we observed a heavy smoke billowing out from the building. With the help of my over 16 years of experience as a fire fighter, I could quickly size up the situation and trace the origin of the fire to the medical store situated on the ground floor of the building.
I also noticed that there were residential apartments above it, which were occupied and were now under threat from the fire. When we reached at the site, the Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services (TSDR&FS) team was already there, doing the external fire-fighting of the building. However, they were running low on water. Acting quickly, we connected the Airport Fire Fighting vehicle’s hoses to the TSDR&FS fire tender and started replenishing their fire vehicle.”
He goes on to add: “By this time, the building was already engulfed in hazardous dark smoke due to the burning of different types of medicines and chemicals. Time was less and we had to act fast. I along with my crew members immediately donned the Personal Protective Equipment including the Fire Retardant Nomex Suits and Self Controlled Breathing Apparatus and got on the job. We entered the tattered building for Search and Rescue. We started the search from the basement and ascended upwards in the burning building, covering every nook and corner of the building including the undersides of furniture and restrooms and guided the people to move out from the building. After completing the search and evacuation, we confirmed the same to the Incident Commander of TSDR&FS that no casualties were found and that everything was clear,” he describes the day.
The fire was put out by 0740h and the operation was called off. Dharmavir and team returned to the Airport Fire Station and resumed duty at the airport.Dharamvir hails from Hissar district of Haryana. Son of an ex-army man, he has also worked with Dubai Port of Authority. He has been with GHIAL ARFF team for the last 11 years.