Firefighters tale

The old saying “fortune favours the brave” came true for the scores of firemen who went into the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower to help douse out fires amidst a fierce gun battle between terrorists and commandos with only two of the firemen returning injured despite none of them having bulletproof vests. Only one fireman and one driver were injured from the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) in the long drama.
Mr Yuvraj D. Pawar, (35), a fireman with the Colaba Fire Station narrated the sequence of events right from getting the emergency call till the end of the saga. For Mr Pawar this was one of the worst incidents in his career with the fire department that spans over 15 years. “On Wednesday night we headed towards Oberoi Hotel on getting a call. After parking the fire tender, we started enquiring with the police about the status of the siege,” said Mr Pawar. By then there was a grenade attack from the upper floors of the Oberoi Hotel. “Luckily none of the fire personnel were injured in this blast,” said Mr Pawar. “It was touch and go for us,” said Mr Prabhat Rahangdale, assistant division fire officer at Colaba fire station.
When firemen learnt that the Kandahar Restaurant was in flames, they started dousing the fire from outside.
“We put up an aerial ladder to start our work and police personnel gave us cover since we did not have any protective wear. The fire was put off within 30 minutes. However, crossfiring was still on,” said Mr Pawar.
After sometime, there was another call, this time however, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower was in flames. While firemen were preparing to make a move, three grenades were thrown; all of them missing the target.
“We started putting up the ladders and rescued around 300 to 350 people,” said Mr Pawar. The terrorists continued to ignite the fire wherever possible. Fortunately, no grenades were hurled nor were any gunshots fired in the night. However, what remained in store was a chilling discovery. A live grenade was lying on the road beneath a car on the pay and park lot for almost eight hours. “The grenade could have gone off at the slightest vibration, hence, killing many of us,” said Mr Pawar.
On Thursday afternoon, while firemen were extinguishing the fire between the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower there was heavy crossfire between the commandos and the terrorists. “The situation was very dangerous, since bullets were being exchanged. The thought of my family kept running through my mind but I had to overcome it,” said Mr Pawar.

The Asian Age correspondents