97 women join city Fire Brigade

Mumbai: April 16 will be remembered as a red-letter day in the history of Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) as 97 women officially joined the fire brigade force. It is the first time in history that women fire-fighters have joined the MFB in such large numbers.

Earlier the MFB had only 18 fire-fighters. However, with the recruitment of 97 women, the workforce now has increased to 115. While the 18 firewomen operate from the brigade headquarters in Byculla, the new batch has been deputed at eight selected fire stations in the city.

These 97 firewomen have been deputed at eight fire stations — Fort, Worli, Wadala, Borivali, Mulund, Vikhroli, Malad and Mankhurd. “The women fire-fighters will be asked to carry out every task their male counterparts perform under fire-fighting. For this, they have been trained rigorously,’’ said a senior fire official.

According to fire officials, six months of rigorous training was given to 97 newly recruited firewomen at the regional command centre, Wadala. They were taught how to battle fires in extreme conditions. To test their skills, artificial fires were set up at the Regional Command Centre. ‘’No concession was given to these women during the training. They have been selected only after clearing the final test,’’ said the official.

‘’It is an honour to join the Mumbai Fire Brigade, which is considered to be one of the strongest fire forces in the country. The job is about serving the people and we will not shy away from the responsibility,’’ said one of the woman fire-fighters

Most of the women who were recruited hail from rural parts of Maharashtra like Sindhudurg, Jalgaon, Sinnar in Nashik district.