<p>It was April 14, 1944 – 79 years ago, Mumbai, then Bombay, faced one of its biggest disasters. It came to be known as Bombay Dock Explosions – and now the week commencing April 14 is observed as the Fire Services Week nationally. </p>.<p>The first explosion occurred at 4.06 pm, followed by another big one at 4.41 pm. A British ship, SS Fort Stikine, which was carrying deadly ammunition, was responsible for the blasts. The explosions were not only recorded at the Colaba observatory, but also by seismographs in other parts of the country.</p>.<p>The story begins with the sailing of SS Fort Stikine, from England on the morning of February 24, 1944 with a convoy of around 20 ships. The over 7,000-tonne freighter was under the command of Capt. NJ Naismith and was to meet the war supplies to carry out a strike against Japan. Besides ammunition, spares for ships and aircraft, it also had gold bars on board, besides a fighter plane. The ship stopped en route in Karachi and cotton bales, cartons of oil, resin, scrap iron, and sulphur were loaded.</p>.<p>She carried just about everything that would either burn up or blow up. On the morning of the April 14, the ship was still docked at Victoria Dock awaiting unloading. Around 2 in the afternoon, the crew of the ship was alerted that there was a fire on board. The crew, as well as numerous shore fire crews, immediately attempted to douse the fire. Unfortunately, they were unable to do so. Around 4 in the evening, an order was given to abandon the ship. Just after 4, the ship underwent the first of two explosions. The two explosions together split the ship in half and broke windows up to 12 kilometers away.</p>.<p>The explosions the ship experienced were powerful enough to be recorded by a seismograph. It took 3 days to bring the fire under control. Once that was done, 8,000 people worked for 7 months to remove 500,000 tons of debris and get the docks back in working order. The official death toll in the incident was 740. Of those, 476 were military personnel. 1,800 people were injured and 27 ships were sunk.</p>.<p><strong>Want to make state fire-free: Shinde </strong></p>.<p>On the eve of Fire Services Week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that he aims to make the state fire-free. </p>.<p>“The commitment and sacrifice of firefighters are remarkable. With the infrastructure development, the risk of evacuation during a fire incident has increased over the years, but the fire brigade department has never failed to save the lives and property of civilians. The Maharashtra Energy Department’s new circular on installing Fire Evacuation Lifts in high-rise buildings is a visionary step. It will make the evacuation process easier and faster for firefighters,” Shinde said. </p>.<p>Industry expert Dr. Vikram Mehta, MD of SPARTAN Fire Evacuation Lift said: “It’s not possible to imagine the hardship of firefighters. They are real superheroes who fight for the life of others. In recent years, the rising number of high-rise constructions have made the job of firefighters riskier as they have to walk through stairs on higher floors with 25 to 30kg weight to douse the fire and evacuate people during fire emergencies. The fire evacuation lift is an effective solution for firefighters to reach high floors faster and for people to have a safer living in high-rise buildings. It’s time to save our saviors (firemen)."</p>.<p>“Now, we must follow all rules and regulations made by the Maharashtra Energy Department to ascertain the preparedness to fight fire emergencies. Little consciousness by the civilians and infra developers can make Maharashtra a fire-free state,” Shinde added. </p>.<p>Chief Fire Officer of Mumbai Sanjay Manjrekar said, “The joint efforts of the citizens and the fire department can only make the city fire-free. Throughout the year, we are continuously trying to sensitise the citizens regarding fire safety through mock drills, awareness programs, lectures, training, demonstrations, etc. Every year we do awareness and fire safety camps during fire service week so that the civilians can be educated and trained about the safety protocols.”</p>.<p>Chief Fire Officer of Pune Devendra Potphode, said, “Adhering to fire safety regulations and norms is not just a legal obligation, but a moral responsibility for all citizens, builders, and developers. Let us come together and prioritise the safety of ourselves and our community to make Pune a fire-free city.”</p>
<p>It was April 14, 1944 – 79 years ago, Mumbai, then Bombay, faced one of its biggest disasters. It came to be known as Bombay Dock Explosions – and now the week commencing April 14 is observed as the Fire Services Week nationally. </p>.<p>The first explosion occurred at 4.06 pm, followed by another big one at 4.41 pm. A British ship, SS Fort Stikine, which was carrying deadly ammunition, was responsible for the blasts. The explosions were not only recorded at the Colaba observatory, but also by seismographs in other parts of the country.</p>.<p>The story begins with the sailing of SS Fort Stikine, from England on the morning of February 24, 1944 with a convoy of around 20 ships. The over 7,000-tonne freighter was under the command of Capt. NJ Naismith and was to meet the war supplies to carry out a strike against Japan. Besides ammunition, spares for ships and aircraft, it also had gold bars on board, besides a fighter plane. The ship stopped en route in Karachi and cotton bales, cartons of oil, resin, scrap iron, and sulphur were loaded.</p>.<p>She carried just about everything that would either burn up or blow up. On the morning of the April 14, the ship was still docked at Victoria Dock awaiting unloading. Around 2 in the afternoon, the crew of the ship was alerted that there was a fire on board. The crew, as well as numerous shore fire crews, immediately attempted to douse the fire. Unfortunately, they were unable to do so. Around 4 in the evening, an order was given to abandon the ship. Just after 4, the ship underwent the first of two explosions. The two explosions together split the ship in half and broke windows up to 12 kilometers away.</p>.<p>The explosions the ship experienced were powerful enough to be recorded by a seismograph. It took 3 days to bring the fire under control. Once that was done, 8,000 people worked for 7 months to remove 500,000 tons of debris and get the docks back in working order. The official death toll in the incident was 740. Of those, 476 were military personnel. 1,800 people were injured and 27 ships were sunk.</p>.<p><strong>Want to make state fire-free: Shinde </strong></p>.<p>On the eve of Fire Services Week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that he aims to make the state fire-free. </p>.<p>“The commitment and sacrifice of firefighters are remarkable. With the infrastructure development, the risk of evacuation during a fire incident has increased over the years, but the fire brigade department has never failed to save the lives and property of civilians. The Maharashtra Energy Department’s new circular on installing Fire Evacuation Lifts in high-rise buildings is a visionary step. It will make the evacuation process easier and faster for firefighters,” Shinde said. </p>.<p>Industry expert Dr. Vikram Mehta, MD of SPARTAN Fire Evacuation Lift said: “It’s not possible to imagine the hardship of firefighters. They are real superheroes who fight for the life of others. In recent years, the rising number of high-rise constructions have made the job of firefighters riskier as they have to walk through stairs on higher floors with 25 to 30kg weight to douse the fire and evacuate people during fire emergencies. The fire evacuation lift is an effective solution for firefighters to reach high floors faster and for people to have a safer living in high-rise buildings. It’s time to save our saviors (firemen)."</p>.<p>“Now, we must follow all rules and regulations made by the Maharashtra Energy Department to ascertain the preparedness to fight fire emergencies. Little consciousness by the civilians and infra developers can make Maharashtra a fire-free state,” Shinde added. </p>.<p>Chief Fire Officer of Mumbai Sanjay Manjrekar said, “The joint efforts of the citizens and the fire department can only make the city fire-free. Throughout the year, we are continuously trying to sensitise the citizens regarding fire safety through mock drills, awareness programs, lectures, training, demonstrations, etc. Every year we do awareness and fire safety camps during fire service week so that the civilians can be educated and trained about the safety protocols.”</p>.<p>Chief Fire Officer of Pune Devendra Potphode, said, “Adhering to fire safety regulations and norms is not just a legal obligation, but a moral responsibility for all citizens, builders, and developers. Let us come together and prioritise the safety of ourselves and our community to make Pune a fire-free city.”</p>
