Fifty-year-old Gripin Chhiddha Singh was the leading fireman, and the seniormost, of the six-member team that perished inside the lift. Hailing from Mudrafa village in Ghaizabad district of UP, Singh had joined the Thane Fire Brigade in 1970 and was only three years short of retirement.

Singh was known as Tandel, a Marathi term for a leading fireman. As his family is in Meerut, UP, Singh lived alone at Balcum firemen’s quarters.

“He was social and an animal lover and very courageous,” said Vinod Bhal, a close kin. Though he used to reside at Balcum, he would pay a daily visit to his brother Anil Singh and other relatives in the hutments along Khartan Road in Thane. “When he came, dogs in the area would sniff him out for he brought biscuits for them. Once he was so moved by a puppy that had met with an accident that he got it admitted to a veterinary hospital and ended up spending Rs 25,000 on it,” said Bhal.

Despite being close to retirement, Singh was well-built and had the reputation of a pahalwan (wrestler). He was good with the lathi and akhara tactics and had gained reputation as a bone-setter.

“In his entire career in the fire department he was involved in only one accident in 1986 when he fell off a fire tender and had his shoulder dislocated,” said Bhal. He was so meticulous in his working that there were several firemen who felt assured when he led the team.

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