“EVEN if one of us is killed, we still go to the same place tomorrow to save lives.”

This was how Hang Tuah Fire and Rescue Department or “Bomba” chief Mohd Eirwan Hussin responded when asked about morale among his officers after the death of their colleague, Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, when he succumbed to injuries sustained in the riots at a temple in Subang Jaya on November 27. 

Adib’s death was the eighth in a string of fatalities which capped the department’s deadliest year on record. Two months before Adib, six Bomba members drowned while looking for a teenager in mining pond in Puchong. In March, an officer suffered a fatal snake bite in Bentong, Pahang.

Eirwan was not just putting up a brave face to the media. Bomba members in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor echoed the same feelings but told The Malaysian Insight they feel sad after each loss.  

It was not just the loss in their “family” that sapped their spirits. According to several department personnel, it is the public misconception after these episodes which breaks their hearts.  

It was comments on social media like “the fire department didn’t follow SOP” in the Puchong drowning and “firemen relax all day waiting for fires” that add to the pain.

“Adib’s loss was hard on us but the Puchong drowning was even harder because of some of the comments,” said a Kuala Lumpur officer, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. 

To the Bomba personnel, the public reaction to the department reflected a gap between how the department saw itself and its role in society, and how the people they have been trained to serve view them.

And it’s a perplexing gap, said one Selangor officer, as it shows that even in this day and age, some Malaysians still do not understand Bomba’s role even though the fire department is an established institution in all modern societies. 

Saving lives first

The department’s first death in 2018 was when Abu Zarin Hussin died from a cobra bite after he had tried to catch it. The death was a shock as he was known by fellow officers all over the country as a snake expert.

“He was an expert with that species of snake and had even survived being bitten by one in the past,” said the KL Bomba officer.

During the hottest months between April and September, Bomba officers are regularly called on to catch poisonous snakes which wander into people’s homes in rural areas.

Five months later came news of the force’s single largest tragedy. Six men, all experienced, drowned in a mining pool in Taman Putra Perdana Puchong while trying to find a 17-year-old who slipped and fell into the disused pond.

When a video of the operation was leaked, criticism from diving “experts” poured in. The department was excoriated for using a tethering line that ensnared and pulled in all six men into a whirlpool.

They were accused of not following standard operating procedure by tying all six to the same rope.    

“It was not just outsiders questioning our methods, some of us in the same department felt the same way,” said the KL Bomba officer.

The internal suspicions, especially among squad leaders, wore away at the personnel’s already bruised morale. 

Director-general of fire and rescue Mohamad Hamdan Wahid acted swiftly to clear the air, said the officer. Hamdan took all of the country’s officers and squad leaders on a special retreat in Hulu Selangor.  

At a site of a Selangor river known for its rapid waters and whirlpools, the department recreated the conditions that took place in Puchong.

Every squad leader was given the opportunity to carry out the same operation and to test whether the SOP followed on October 3 was correct.

“After all the testing, everyone realised that the officers in the Puchong incident had indeed followed the SOP for that kind of operation,” said the KL officer.

“When the first guy slipped into the whirlpool, the second guy jumped in to save him. The third guy then tried to save the second and first guy. The rest were also trying to save their team members. They were all trying to save their friends when they were pulled in.

“If we are trained to risk our lives to save strangers, what more when it comes to our own friends and colleagues.”

The department has yet to release results of the simulation. Officially, Hamdan said a full report on the Puchong incident will be completed by year-end.

But for Bomba personnel, the simulation put to rest any doubt that the department had erred in Puchong. 

“Director Hamdan really helped us regain our morale. The public may still have their misconceptions but at least for us, internally, our minds are at ease,” said the KL officer.

Valour and sacrifice    

In Adib’s case, there were again suspicions that it was caused by the department’s own mistake. A widely circulated video purported to show that he was run over by a Bomba lorry. 

But close scrutiny of the clip showed no such thing, said the Selangor officer, so morale in the department was not as badly hit as in the Puchong incident.  

“We were saddened that Adib died while on duty,” said Eirwan, the Hang Tuah station chief.

“But that is the risk that all of us are prepared to take. There was a fire. He went down to put out that fire. It’s our job and duty to put out a fire even while there is a riot,” he said.

Adib’s crew was called to the scene when rioters at the Seafield temple started burning cars. Police said he was dragged from a Bomba pick-up vehicle and beaten.

Passers-by sent him to a nearby hospital. The 24-year-old was later transferred to the National Heart Institute. Just as Adib was showing signs of recovery, his conditioned deteriorated and he was pronounced dead, 10 days after the incident. 

After Adib’s death, Eirwan said he and other station chiefs gave talks to their subordinates to soothe their feelings, especially since the tragedy came less than three months after the drowning. 

“Our spirits are slowly but steadily improving. At the end of the day, I keep stressing to them that valour has always been part of our job. That we are ready to sacrifice our own lives so that others may live.”

The Selangor officer drew similarities between all three tragedies – from the snake experts to the drowning to Adib. 

The snake expert wanted to ensure that people’s lives were not at risk, he said. Adib was trying to put out a fire that would have harmed others. The six were all trying to save their teammates.

“At the end of the day, this is what Bomba officers all over the world are trained to do and this what they did,” said Eirwan.

“The eight were trying to save lives even if it meant that they would sacrifice their own.” – December 26, 2018.