Mumbai Building Catches Fire, Air Hostess Dashes Up 9 Floors & Stops It Before Fire-Brigade Arrives

According to Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson’s character from ‘Unbreakable’), superheroes in comic-book stories are an over-exaggerated retelling of real-life heroics. Now that might sound like a load of rubbish, initially. But when you notice what’s happening around you, it starts to make sense.

When a Swiggy delivery boy risked his life and saved 10 people, do you think that was anything short of being super-heroic? Or when a Kerala Fisherman went down on all fours to rescue people, didn’t that mirror the feats of Superman serving as a bridge? And isn’t saving a building from burning down something that Wonder Woman would do?

Because Mumbai’s very own Wonder Woman, Radhika Ahire, did exactly that when she saw smoke coming out of an apartment on the ninth floor of Gokul Panchwati building in the suburb of Andheri, Mumbai. She told The Hindu,

“I was stepping out when my attention was drawn to some commotion outside. I noticed that some clothes that had been put out to dry were burning. The fire soon spread into the apartment through an open window and the curtains started burning.”

While the rest of the crowd that had gathered around the building did nothing, Radhika, assisted by her brother Rohit and neighbour, Mahesh Belapurkar dashed to douse the fire (caused by a firecracker) with a crash axe and nine fire extinguishers. She said,

“Fortunately, the apartment was empty at that time. But until I broke open the main door and another one leading to the bedroom, I had assumed that people might be trapped inside. I had to cover my face with a piece of cloth as the fumes were irritating my eyes and nose.”

Flight attendants are trained to deal with fire on aeroplanes. And that training came in handy for the 25-Year-Old Ahire, as she successfully stopped the building from catching fire even before the firefighters arrived. She said,

“At Jet Airways, the training was hands-on in a simulated scenario. This was, however, the first time that I faced a real-life scenario of fire-fighting. And if required to step up again, I will gladly do so.”

The incident had happened on November 7th, 2018. However, her heroic feat was forgotten until the residents awarded her for her bravery on Republic Day.

Every kid should have a role model in their life who will give them realistic expectations and goals to strive for. Sidhu Humanbade, Jaiswal KP and Radhika Ahire are such examples. So, let’s laud their spirit and pass on their stories to the next generation to help them become better human beings.

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