Night before, blaze victim built ramp for his disabled wife in Mumbai

Forty-five-year-old Pradeep Kumar Zagade, the fireman who lost his life fighting the blaze at Goyal Shopping Arcade in Borivli (West) on Friday, was known for espousing the implementation of an eight-hour duty for officer cadres, instead of the rigorous 24-hours that some would be assigned.

Pradeep, an assistant fire officer of Byculla fire station, was a member of the Mumbai Fire Brigade Officer’s Association. On Thursday night, he had constructed a ramp at his house for his physically challenged wife, but died before he could push her wheelchair on it. A resident of Nagpada’s BIT chawl, Zagade’s wife Kunda works as a pharmacist in the Breach Candy Hospital, and was paralysed a year ago.

“He was a member of the rope rescue team. He was courageous
and adventurous as a child,” said Milind Mistry, a childhood friend. He helped redevelop the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir in his building compound. “He would take up social causes and was always co-operative. He would always go out of his way to help others,” said Prakash Pardesi, another close friend.