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Fire's no wall for braveheart Mashrubhai Charola

Mashrubhai says he would prefer to die while saving a life.

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Mashrubhai Charola does not think twice before dashing into a room engulfed by fire or jumping into a flooded river. In his 36-year service as a fireman with Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES), Charola has saved more than 150 lives.

He is one of the longest serving firemen. He has also rescued a number of birds and animals, but does not remember the exact figure of either.

He is known as probably the best swimmer among all firemen of AFES. “Before jumping into a river, one should take into consideration the speed of water and the approximate time needed to reach a drowning person,” says Charola as a word of caution. 

One of the most challenging incidents he faced in his career was of rescuing farmers stranded in flood near Dhandhuka. He saved five lives in that incident. “Even my superior advised me to play safe. However, I was committed to saveingtheir lives. We could rescue them even before the arrival of a helicopter,” says Charola.

While there is satisfaction most of the times of having saved lives, failure to do so brings regret. Charola’s face falls when he talks about the incident where he could not save a child who had fallen into a 100-feet-deep borewell at Khadi village near Mehsana. “I tied a rope around his hand using a telescope camera but could not bring him up. He died there,” lamented Charola.

His simplicity and hard work has won the hearts of his superiors too. “There is no doubt about his bravery, sense of commitment and efficiency as a fireman. He is an asset for us,” says Rajesh Bhatt, additional chief fire officer of AFES. Giving an example of his commitment, Bhatt says that though Charola is set to retire in four months, he is undergoing training without expectation of any promotion.

His philosophy of life — “Die while saving a life rather than on bed”. Post retirement, Charola wants to settle in Ahmedabad and keep fit so that he can render his services in any case of an emergency.

Recognition of courage

Charola’s long service and commitment have earned him 10 different medals for bravery including President’s fire service medal for gallantry and Mayor’s Medal to name a few.

“The medals and awards bring delight. However, the best moment in my life was when I received a cheque of Rs1,000 from an unknown person,” he said.

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