Jammu: The National Fire Service Day was observed today to pay homage to fire service personnel who laid down their lives in the discharge of duty.
Commemoration parades were held by Fire & Emergency Services staff in J&K State at provincial and district levels. Wreaths were laid in memory of martyrs. The main function was held at Fire and Emergency Headquarters Gandhi Nagar which was led by V K Singh, Commandant General Home Guards, Civil Defense & SDRF J&K holding additional charge of Director General, Fire & Emergency Services.
Two-minute silence was observed in the memory of martyrs. Wreaths were laid on the memorial by V K Singh, Dr Anita Salgotra Medical Officer, M Yaqoob Dar Administrative Officer, Farooq Ahmad Dar Accounts Officer, David Zangpoo DFO Fire and Emergency Services Command Jammu and other senior officers of the department.
Speaking on the occasion, the DG read out the list of 13 martyrs at the national level including 3 from J&K. He described the Mumbai Dock Fire as the worst tragedy in the Fire service history as Mumbai Fire brigade lost its entire crew of 66 members on April 14, 1944. In the said incident a total of 237 lives were lost. Recently, F&ES J&K lost two Firefighters at Jawahar Tunnel Fire station when avalanches hit the Fire station.
He complimented the personnel for their professional competence, commitment and courage. The team exhibited great dedication while attending the 47,229 calls during the last 10 years in which 1207 people lost their lives. While property worth approx Rs 11296 crores was involved in these fires, property worth Rs.10417 crores was saved. The average loss was below 9%.
He announced that very soon the Department would be sending a proposal to the State Government for procuring 4 Belgian Shepherd pups to set up a Dog squad to assist the Search & Rescue Teams. A similar proposal would be mooted for the SDRF. The pups would be deputed with handlers to the National Training Centre for Dogs at the BSF Academy Tekanpur, MP for 6-months training course.
He emphasized upon the departmental officers to constitute special teams for giving demonstrations during the week regarding fire safety measures at district level in industrial establishments and educational institutions besides conducting Speech, essay and poster competitions. The DG inaugurated the newly designed Canteen at Fire Hqrs Gandhi Nagar and released the theme Song of Fire & Emergency Services.
