Kalbadevi Fire : Martyred chief fire officer Sunil Nesarikar cremated

The Mumbai fire brigade on Monday morning bid farewell to martyred chief fire officer Sunil Nesarikar with a guard of honour at the Byculla fire station. Nesarikar died of multiple organ failure on Sunday afternoon at Airoli's National Burns Centre, a fortnight after he suffered burn injuries while battling a massive blaze at Kalbadevi's Gokul Niwas building. Nesarikar was the first chief fire officer of Mumbai who died of burn injuries while on duty.

His colleagues SW Rane and Mahendra Desai had died in the Kalbadevi fire, while deputy chief fire officer Sudhir Amin passed away a week later.

More than 600 people, fire brigade staff and Nesarikar's relatives, thronged the fire station to pay their respects, before his body was taken to the Chandanwadi crematorium for last rites.

He is survived by wife Jayshree and son Siddhant. Nesarikar's 85-year-old mother also stayed with the family.

Nesarikar's family members were inconsolable as his body arrived at the fire station on Monday morning.

Jayshree looked as if she was in a trance and needed support to walk. Nesarikar's sister and their daughters were also inconsolable, and one of the daughters fainted as she was called to pay her last respects. Nesarikar's brother, Hemant, had flown down from Ghana on Monday morning to attend the funeral.

A fire officer of the 1989 batch, Nesarikar was hugely respected by his colleagues and junior firemen.

Acting chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale, who was Nesarikar's colleague and a close friend of his, said, "I have lost my buddy and it is a huge loss for the brigade. He has left a huge vacuum in the brigade." Rahangdale said he had been friends with Nesarikar ever since the duo joined the force.

Nesarikar's body was taken around CST on an open truck before being brought to the crematorium.

Fire brigade officials said the way Nesarikar was injured suggested he had on poor quality Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). An entire set of PPE contains 15 pieces of equipment, including fire-proof jackets, trousers, T-shirts, gloves, shoes and helmets. Nesarikar was not trapped in the fire or debris like the other officials. A huge fireball hit him as he approached the entrance of Gokul Niwas, and that threw him off. 1,700 of the 2,320 pieces of PPE bought by the BMC in the financial year 2009-10 were not usable, a 2012 BMC audit report has revealed. The total cost of the equipment was Rs29.34 crore, with each set of gear costing around Rs1.23 lakh. A second enquiry into the matter is on.