Assistant Fire Officer Pradip Zagde (44),who lost his life fighting the fire at Goyal Shopping Centre in Borivali on Friday,was scheduled to work in the second shift. But he had sought permission to work in the first shift so that he could meet his friends in the evening. He was attached to the Byculla divisional office of the Mumbai Fire Brigade. Zagde died after inhaling toxic fumes from burning rubber footwear stored in the basement of the building. He entered the building at 2 pm on Friday and lost his way out. He was one of the firemen posted outside the Nariman House during the 26/11 attacks and was recently honoured with the bravery award. Nitin Raut,head of the wireless department of the fire department,said Zagde was a hardworking officer. It was his ill-luck that he had sought permission to work in the 7am-3pm shift. He was supposed to work in the 3pm-11pm shift. Before entering the basement,he had asked me why were we taking so long to douse the fire, he said. Zagde is survived by his wife who is a clerk in Breach Candy Hospital and was livig at their Nagpada residence. His younger brothers Vilas and Avinash wept inconsolably on Friday evening. He was more than a brother to us, said Vilas. His parents,who stay in their hometown Dapoli,reached just in time for the funeral. Zagdes friends Pradip Shinde and Dinesh Bhandarkar with whom he had planned to spend the evening also came to the funeral. I had spoken to Pradip on Wednesday night over the phone. We were going to meet after a long time, said Shinde,a police constable. Bhandarkar,a businessman,said it was ironical as Zagde died on Shivaji Jayanti. He was a huge fan of Shivaji. During a fire that broke out at Zaveri Bazaar in March 2009,he had rescued 24 people , he said. The Mumbai Fire Brigade has announced a compensation of Rs15 lakh to Zagdes family.
