*THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS :: VOL: 33 :: ISSUE: 05*
**
*Fire in PBMC Major Catastrophe Averted*

By *Govinda Raju*

It was about 5 O' clock in the evening on February 5, 2008 when the western
skyline of Port Blair was covered by a plume of thick, dark, oily cloud
emanating from somewhere in Aberdeen village. Although the sun sets early
these days, yet the premature darkness attracted the attention of everyone
who was outdoors. It needed no guessing that fire had broken out somewhere.
In minutes flames leapt out piercing the dark clouds and the entire area was
awash with bright yellow light.
The fire brigade had swung into action right in time and this time, for a
change, there were no goof ups. The tankers were full with water and Ashoke
Chand, Superintendent of Police had taken charge of the operations himself
ably assisted by Rasheed, acting chief Fire officer. The other right
decision taken by the police was to call for the assistance of Naval Fire
Service in time without standing on formalities. The wooden building at
Atlanta Point that housed the workshop, sanitary section and the main store
of Port Blair Municipal Council had caught fire.
The fire apparently had started at about 4.30 PM from the sanitary or store
side of the building at the rear. PBMC store was stocked with a lot of
inflammable materials like paint, brooms, electrical wires and PVC fittings,
PVC pipes and fittings in addition to large number of tyres and tubes.
Eyewitnesses report that the fire had caught somewhere inside the store or
sanitary section and dense smoke had started coming out of the windows.
There was a strong westerly wind that drove the cloud of smoke towards
Aberdeen Bazaar. As it was early hours yet, a large number of workers and
supervisory staff were present in the premises. But they all deny any
knowledge of fire till the roof was blown away by the tremendous pressure
generated inside due to heat of fire. Once the top was blown off, mighty
tongues of fire became visible and the panic started.
The police was informed at 5.30 PM according to Ashoke Chand, Superintendent
of Police and the fire tenders did not take more than 10 minutes to reach
the spot. The place was stocked with all kinds of inflammable articles and
material all around the building like; vehicles filled with diesel, Sintex
tanks, fuel storage, lubricating oil, grease etc. However, the workers of
mechanical section of PBMC lead by Taqweem Bin Yamin, junior engineer and
others did a heroic job to remove all the vehicles and shift the inflammable
articles as far as possible. Ashoke Chand and Rasheed themselves were seen
moving the Sintex tanks etc inspiring others to contribute their mite to
minimize the damage.
However, the PBMC had not provided even the rudimentary fire fighting
equipment and arrangements in the premises that housed such dangerous and
inflammable stores and also a workshop. Though it is mandatory under the law
to provide fire extinguishers, sand buckets and plenty of water, nothing was
available at site to douse the fire.
Gen Bhopinder Singh, Lt. Governor also made a personal visit of the site at
the height of the crisis and had given the team valuable tips to overcome
the disaster.
Quick, efficient and professional handling of the situation by the local
fire service, exemplary leadership shown by Ashoke Chand, SP and N. Rasheed,
CFO, wholehearted cooperation and support by the Naval Fire Service, hard
work by the workers of PBMC ensured that fire was contained in just one
building. Had the fire spread to any other building, it would have become
impossible to save Aberdeen Village from a sure disaster. The traffic
management was commendable, the performance of firemen and the fire tenders;
laudable, felt the spectators.
The cause of fire, as usual is said to be electrical short circuit. There
was a mini fire in the same building on February 2-3, 2008. It was put out
by the members of the staff themselves. The matter was not reported to the
PBMC authorities, according to reports. The inside sources in PBMC allege
that the wiring would have been checked for the source of short-circuit, had
it been reported in time.
The services rendered by Taqweem Bin Yamin, Junior Engineer, K Swamy & Jai
Kumar, Heavy Vehicle Driver and Excavator Operator of PBMC were noted by the
authorities for their bravery, dedication and commitment.


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