KATHMANDU: Their name is synonymous to bravery and their job an act of heroism, but firefighters in our country hardly get their due. And being felicitated as heroes are the least of their concern for they are struggling to get basic amenities.

The fire brigades in Nepal, which a couple of months ago were under the Ministry of Home Affairs, are now under respective municipalities.

Lost legacy: The Juddha Barun Yantra Karyalaya in Kathmandu (Kathmandu Fire Brigade) at Basantapur has three fire engines, which were donated in 1987 after the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu. Each has a capacity of 4,000 litres, which Lilaraj Thapa Magar, acting chief of the fire brigade said “is not enough to douse fires”. Thus, they have to rush to refill to the nearest water sources like reservoirs of drinking water supply at Mahankal and Jorpati.

The condition of the Lalitpur Juddha Barun Karyalaya (Lalitpur Fire Brigade) is even worse. There is only one fire engine that actually works with a capacity of 2,400 litres.

“Seven such German-made fire engines were donated to Nepal in 1975, one each for Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur while four for Birgunj, Biratnagar, Dharan and Pokhara. Fire engines in other cities have been replaced but we are still using that old one. Our other engines are no longer functional,” said Rajendra Kumar Giri, who looks after the administration of Lalitpur Fire Brigade.

The only functional fire engine barely survives a trip. Giri recalled the recent incident when the Wai Wai factory caught fire on November 20. “The representatives of the factory called the Kathmandu Fire Brigade and they informed us about the incident. We got ready to leave but our engine would not start. We were not able to take immediate action due to engine failure. If this engine stops functioning, there will be no fire engine at all,” Giri added.

Age old techniques: And it is not only the engines, the firemen are also not well equipped for their tough and life-threatening job. They don’t have fire-proof jackets or special helmets and mostly they go on duty in their normal khai clothes, helmets and boots.

“We are putting our life at risk but we lack proper equipment and clothes that can ensure our safety while we are out there fighting fire,” said fireman Gauri Thapa of Lalitpur Fire Brigade.

Delving on this topic Magar stressed that firefighters in Nepal still work with age-old techniques. Giri, who has been working for the Lalitpur Fire Brigade for the last 18 years, also voiced a similar concern. “We are working without proper technical and scientific knowledge. An individual must be trained for at least six to 12 months before being recruited as a firefighter, but unfortunately we don’t have any such training systems or proper training centres.”

It’s the seniors, who have learned the tricks of trade through years of working, who train the new recruits. They use their personal experiences as reference points to prepare the juniors to respond to different disasters they have to handle.

Minimal manpower: Kathmandu Fire Brigade has 39 staff — 11 from Armed Police Force (APF), 10 from Metropolitan Police and 18 have been mobilised from the Home Ministry. The condition at Lalitpur Fire Brigade is dismal. “Earlier we had 36 people but now we are left with only 11 — four haldars (firemen), one jamdar (commander), three drivers and three helper,” said Thapa.

Giri said, “The Home Ministry has not paid any attention to our problems. Nothing has been done about the recruitment procedure since 1995.”

Modern age challenges: Their working style and facility may be ages old but the challenges they face are very much of today’s time like urbanisation. Illustrating with an example Magar said, “One morning a building at Guccha Tole, Ranjana Galli caught fire. The spot was not at all far from our station and we reached the area within two minutes, but there was not enough space for our engine to reach the house. It took us around 10 minutes to find a solution before we could start working on the fire.”

According to him, the growing trend of apartment systems and tall commercial buildings are also posing huge problems. He elaborated, “Today’s apartment housings are 50 to 60 metres high while our ladders can reach only around 30 metres.”

He urged Kathmandu Metropolitan City and related municipalities to consider such issues while giving authority to build such high rise buildings.

Support from public: Magar also urges people in general to be more cautious and responsible. According to him, most of the time an electric problem or a lubricant is the major source of a fire mishap. “If people can inform us about the source it becomes easier for us because we will be prepared with different methods to deal with the fire,” added Magar.

Pointing out how these men have to be prepared for other natural calamities as well Giri stated that firemen are the most “neglected civil servants of our country”.

“In the west they have so much respect but we lack proper governance, planning and have such pathetic working conditions,” lamented Giri.

However, Magar is hopeful that firefighters will have a better future provided that the government and authorities concerned pay heed to their poor condition. “We cannot work like this for very long. Kharani nibhayera kunai aartha chhaina (there is no sense in dousing ashes),” Magar proclaimed.