A team of fire fighters who were engaged in the recent fire at Dzükou.
Atono Tsükrü Kense
Kohima | January 29
To be a fire-fighter is a challenging job which entails bravery, strength, commitment, presence of mind among other skills as they have to be ready for when the unexpected occurs.
Fire-fighters from Nagaland have done a commendable job in dousing off the fire at Dzükou valley. “Dzükou fire is not the first time. It is never an easy task to fight such fire of massive extent” said Thejangulie Zao, District Management Officer, Kohima speaking to The Morung Express.
He spoke about what it takes for fire fighters to work in these challenging conditions and the importance of coordinated efforts to tackle such incidents.
“It all starts from coordinating between all the stakeholders,” Zao said.
It took the coordination between the District Administration, Home Guard & Civil Defence (HG&CD), State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the Forest Department, Fire & Emergency Services (F&ES), Police, National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), Indian Air Force (IAF), local NGOs and volunteers.
“It is always a collective effort of all entities taking ownership of the incident.”
He vouched for the strength of the disaster management plans which Zao stated facilitates and mobilises the man power and resources available along with all the line departments.
“Sometimes, the natural terrains become a barrier for us to work smoothly” pointed out Zao. He nevertheless said that “it is never too big an obstacle to carry out our duties.” “The support of the government and the public pushes us to keep going to complete any operation assigned,” he added.
The officer meanwhile stated that “man-made disasters are caused due to human carelessness.” “We can only educate the public to be more cautious while dealing with elements which could cause major outbreak of uncontrollable situations,” he said.
He urged people to be aware of the rules, procedures and penalties laid down by the government for incidents such as forest fire.
“Sometimes though, the people responsible go unidentified. The rest is for the individual to take,” he said.
