Vasco fire fighters are in a fight for their own fire station

DHIRAJ HARMALKAR

 dhiraj@herald-goa.com

VASCO:  The firemen of Vasco can well sing ‘We didn’t start the fire..but it was always burning” ( Lines from Billy Joel’s iconic song).

 And they aren’t talking about the numerous fires they need to douse frequently during the course of their duty, but a fire that is burning within—their desperate need for a proper fire station.

 The Vasco fire station caters to the four constituencies of Vasco, Mormugao Dabolim and Cortalim. While on duty, firefighters are housed in the fire brigade’s family colony building. But from time to time, the firefighters who run to rescue people, under various situations, don’t have an adequate fire station building to come back to.

Despite all odds, fire fighting personnel work perfectly for the safety of the public, said Francisco Mendes, Fire station officer of Vasco fire station. He also said that form time to them, they deal with several issues. For instance, the rescue tender vehicle has been giving them problem often.

 Some vehicles and equipment are often needed repairing due to wear and tear they endure due to the lack of infrastructure. A much building would prove helpful in keeping vehicles and equipment safe inside the fire station. 

 The ‘hydraulic winch’ in the ‘rescue tender’ vehicle for rescue operation has encountered a problem. This often hinders the work of the soldiers. The fire brigade has about 10 ‘tree cutters’ to chop off fallen trees. There are two large and one small fire truck to help in case of a fire emergency. 

OLD BUILDING DEMOLISHED A FEW YEARS AGO, BUT NEW BUILDING NOT CONSTRUCTED

A reliable source informed that the old building of the fire station was demolished a few years ago. It was decided to build a new building. But, the construction of the new building has not started yet.

 When asked whether the Fire Safety Director visited the fire station office after the old structure was demolished, source replied in negative. 

 Currently, the control room and the office are in two small rooms. The recruits stay in the old family colony building and whenever there is an emergency siren they get down from the building and rush to the emergency site. A siren sounding during an emergency disturbs the sleep of family members living in the building. As the building is old, we have to face the problem of water leakage in the rain.

 Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida who said that the construction of New Fire Station Building in Vasco work will start by September 2021. The estimated cost for this project is Rs.9.27crore and the tender amount is Rs.11.11crores.

 The firemen of Vasco surely didn’t light this fire, but can surely say “but we tried to fight it”, to quote Billy Joel’s song again.