The firemen of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) are not just fighting fire incidents and saving human lives and property, occasionally, their job also involves saving birds stuck on wires, rescuing of stray dogs and cows which fall in open sewers and drains. In August most of the rescue cases reported were of birds, majority of which were enmeshed in glass-coated string used in kites.
According to data, 1,832 birds of different species have been rescued from January this year till date by the DFS and around 717 operations have been conducted in month of August this year alone. In January, the department attended 207 bird rescue calls while in February it attended 184 such calls. The number fell to 97 in March and then rose to 149 in April. In May, the department attended 126 such calls while in June and July; the department attended 130 and 222 such calls.
According to Atul Garg, DFS Chief Fire Officer, fire officials don't refuse any kind of rescue call and just because birds, stray dogs, cow are not human lives, there is no laidback attitude in dealing with such cases and DFS acts with the same alacrity as they act on blaze related calls.
"On an average there around 24 to 25 calls everyday regarding the animal or bird stuck. Most of the calls are related to birds which are most of the times trapped on wires, which are on height. The height at which these birds are trapped poses challenge for us. Sometimes, our fire tenders are not enough so fire officials use the 'Bronto Skylift'," said another official of DFS.
The Brontos were bought by the fire department for saving human lives during fires in high-rise buildings, but are currently being used mostly for rescuing birds.
The DFS have around four Bronto Skylift vehicles, one with a range of 70 metres and others which extend around 32, 34, or 45 metres. If there isn't enough space to bring in these vehicles, other methods are used. Many a time, the firemen put their lives at risk for birds and animals.
Citing an instance in which a bird was stuck in a kite string and was dangling from a tree, Garg said one of the firemen arranged for a kite, flew it, cut the string and rescued it.
In another instance, firemen used a long pole to reach the bird to save it, Garg said. "There was a major blaze in Pitampura in June this year in which 100 people were saved. Later, a woman came crying and told our firemen that her puppy, whom she loved like her son, was stuck in the blaze. The firemen went back and rescued the puppy, much to the delight of that woman," said Garg
"We were initially not specialised in handling animal or bird rescues.
But after so many rescues, many of our ground staff boys have become trained in this area," Garg added.
