fire extinguishers

Fire Extinguishers

The building inspector came to check my clinic and he accusingly said, ”there are no fire extinguishers!”

He was right. Given the shoddy work done by electrical contractors and  the inferior quality of electrical wires on the market , I realized he had a point. We needed fire extinguishers.

He came sleazily close to me, ”We can make an adjustment. You just pay me. You don’t have to purchase extinguishers. Ask your neighbor.”

My neighbor was running some sort of factory next door in a large shed. He was a shady character. Apparently he just paid off the building inspector every year.

I had visions of electrical fires and my patients being burnt to a crisp.

“I will buy the extinguishers.” I refused to pay the inspector.

As I was leaving I saw the factory owner standing outside. I peeped into the factory and lo and behold there were six fire extinguishers lined up against the wall.

“You have fire extinguishers?” I asked.

“Oh no, “ he said “they are too expensive. I just have empty casings. I have a supplier. Shall I text you his number?”

Much against my manager’s wishes, I ordered four real fire extinguishers and some red metal buckets to be filled with sand. My manager and  the factory owner became friends.  They had animated discussions about by idiocy.

A couple of months later, there was a terrible smell coming out of his factory. Apparently, he stored beedi leaves there. Someone had thrown a lighted cigarette or beedi  through the ventilator. The entire godown was a smoldering smelly mess.

He borrowed my fire extinguishers and tried to spray the inside through the ventilator. I was not sure how the extinguisher worked, neither was he. He decided to chuck the entire extinguisher inside, metal case and all. There was a muffled explosion.

Meanwhile a crowd gathered and some called the fire department. They were very annoyed.

“We just had our parade. There is a water shortage in Vellore. Our truck is only half full.”

The started the hose and a pathetic wispy spray of water came out.

Sand mining from the Palar river bed in Vellore is illegal. That does not prevent people from mining the sand at night. Trucks transport the mined sand through the by lanes near my clinic. One such truck approached. The public stopped it. They formed a line, took the sand and filled the godown with it. The fire stopped. The fire engine left with half its water unused. The lorry driver stood helplessly wringing his hands.

“Oh God ,” wailed my neighbor, “my godown is destroyed, my beedi leaves are burnt----- where will I go for money? It would have been cheaper to buy the fire extinguishers!“

The driver stepped forward, ”don’t forget you have to pay for my sand and my labour!”