Days and places where the tragedy struck are different, but victims belong to the same department. Seventeen firemen of Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services sustained burns on October 12 night when they were putting out a fire in an oil shop in Basavanagudi.
Exactly two months later, a fireman was charred to death, while four were injured in a fire in Ilyas Nagar in Kumarswamy Layout on Thursday night.
On October 12 night, the incident occurred minutes after they successfully put out the fire and were about to come out of the shop when a barrel containing thinner exploded. Firemen, a photographer, assistants to firemen and an SI were injured. Except a fireman who is undergoing treatment, others have been discharged. Five of them have already reported for duty.
Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services bore the medical expenses.
These incidents exposed the fire department’s negligence in giving proper protective gear to employees. Though firemen come under emergency services, neither the Centre nor State governments have found it necessary to provide them fire-resistant suits.
“There’s simply no budget for these suits. One suit would cost Rs 2 lakh. There are 2,600 fire personnel in the department in the State. We are in the process of  recruiting another 1,811,” said a senior officer of the department.“We provide them with oxygen masks, helmets and gum boots.”
There’s no proposal to provide them with fire-resistant suits. There’s a gown made of aluminium, which they are supposed to wear but none wears it as it is huge.
Is it because of lack of funds that the department is unable to provide them with life-saving gear? “Not really. The Central government has a scheme of several hundred crores under Management of National Disaster Prevention Fund. A fire-resistant suit costs between Rs 5,000 and Rs 50,000,” said a representative of a company which makes flame-resistant textile fibre used in fire protective clothing. “I approached the department many times, but they told me that there’s no budget for it.”