Rawalpindi - The Punjab Emergency Service (PES) Rescue 1122 and Fire Safety Association of Pakistan (FSAP) Saturday commemorated the great sacrifices of 13 heroes who lost their lives during Ghakkar Plaza fire fighting and rescue operation on 20th December 2008.
Out of 13 firefighters, four were from Rescue 1122, one from Municipal Fire Brigade Rawalpindi, six from Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Wah Cantonment and two were from Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Islamabad.
In this regard, rescuers observed “Unsung Heroes Day” in all districts of Punjab. The Rescue 1122 and FSAP paid rich tribute to real heroes of the nation by conducting awareness sessions on great sacrifice and role of emergency workers towards safety of the community.
Districts emergency officers of all districts briefed rescuers about Ghakkar Plaza incident and leading role of rescuers and firefighters on 20th December 2008. The debriefing sessions on all major fire incidents have also been conducted for better understanding of unexpected fire emergencies and complex emergencies scenarios. The rescuers also discussed in detail about problems faced during emergency operations in multi-storey buildings.
Imran Quershi, Administrator Rawal Town, Dr Abdur Rehman, DEO, Deeba Shahnaz, EOH, Ghulam Muhammad Naz, vice-president FSAP, Ali Hussain, EO Rawal Town, Engineer Danish Khalil, emergency officer Potohar Town, Tariq, chief fire officer CAA, and Mehmood, fire chief from Attock Refinery, put floral wreaths on Martyrs Memento established at TMA Rawalpindi on behalf of their departments concerned.
Speaking on the occasion, Deeba Shahnaz Akhter conveyed message of the director general Rescue 1122 to all rescuers. In his message Dr Rizwan Naseer, DG Rescue 1122, paid homage to the martyrs of Ghakkar Plaza and said, “We can not give more precious lives just for negligence. It is time to bring change by implementation of fire safety standards in buildings. Everybody must contribute to build safer communities in Pakistan.”
He further said that emergency service was always ready to help the community on first call but at the same time community should also play its role to build safer communities in Pakistan. “We need to adopt disaster risk management as culture to build safer communities in Pakistan,” he added.
Dr Abdur Rehman paid tribute to heroes and acknowledged their services. He said, “We are proud of our heroes and their sacrifices would be remembered forever. We are continuously working for identifying risk involved in emergency response in multi-storey buildings and implementation of minimum fire safety standards as per building bylaws with collaboration of district government and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board.”
Imran Quershi paid tribute to real heroes of the nation and acknowledged the services of the Emergency Service Rescue 1122 in the country. He discussed problems faced by the firefighters and ensured all possible administrative support to Rescue 1122 to resolve it.
Ghulam Muhammad Naz said, “We are proud of our firefighters who sacrificed their lives; undoubtedly they have set an example for all rescuers and firefighters to do our work with full dedication and devotion.”