KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 18 — When K. Balasupramaniam’s mother was still a child, she tried to put out a burning copy of a newspaper when tragedy struck.
Instead of extinguishing the fire, she ended up further fanning the flames, which then spread to he clothes and began burning her.
Not taught how to respond, she flailed and screamed as the fires lapped at her legs and torso.
“The fire was only put out by a neighbour of ours who poured milk over her, but the damage was already done.
“She could not go to school for about nine months and her regret of not knowing how to extinguish a fire was how everything began,” Balasupramaniam told Malay Mail.
From that indelible moment came the genesis of what would become the Malaysian Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association (MVFRA).
While Balasupramaniam, or Capt Bala to his associates, had a passion for fighting crime and wanted to be a policeman, he could not shake off the memory of his mother’s burns and permanent scarring from the incident.
Rather than venturing into law enforcement, he chose to found the MVFRA in 1991.
He first envisioned it as a platform to train professionals in fire safety, which would later be spread to the rest of the community. This later evolved into the volunteer firefighter corps that was praised by the City Fire and Rescue Department (JBKL) earlier this year.
Under the auspices of the MVFRA, he assembled an eclectic band of volunteers and rescuers who travelled the world over to help in search operations wherever tragedy has struck.
“I know almost everyone has a mind to contribute but lack the opportunity to do so,” the safety activist said.
Malay Mail previously reported that volunteer firefighters responded to about 6 per cent (245 cases) cases reported to JBKL, of which 169 were fire incidents, 22 rescue attempts and 54 special services case.
Balasupramaniam said the association complements the Fire and Rescue Department by filling the gap between fire prevention and emergencies response.
“The difference when you have a local fire department and a standalone rescue team is that they are unable to reach out to the children.
“They have their hands full on responding to local fire and emergencies so we take over the prevention part left behind by them,” he said.
Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department director Khirudin Drahman sang praises for volunteer firefighter teams (VFT) such as the MVFRA during a speech in January, saying their work was more vital for fire safety in the long run.
“At the end of the day the real unsung heroes are those that prevent a tragedy from taking place at all and you have to be proud of what you are doing,” Khirudin said then.
For Balasupramaniam, the biggest hurdle to running the MVFRA was funding the association.
Much like its volunteers who are not paid at all for their contributions and services, MVFRA is also not supported by any agencies and must depend on contributions from private companies, often as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.
“Contrary to belief, we do not receive stipends from JBKL and all expenses including equipment maintenance and procurement are borne by the association,” he said.
Taking volunteers from all walks of life, the MVFRA trains and deploys these according to ability and expertise, ranging from Green Zone volunteers for newcomers to Red Zone personnel who are deployed to active emergencies and disaster sites.
Balasupramaniam said the volunteers are not paid and were simply doing their part for the country. Some come from fields of safety and health occupations, but many hail from completely unrelated industries.
In fact, Balasupramaniam said he preferred that the volunteers come from such diverse backgrounds, saying he believed in “taking ordinary people to do extraordinary jobs.”
Anyone can volunteer and he stressed that the only criteria was that they be disciplined in contributing and spreading the word on fire safety.
“There is too much negative energy going around and it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness,” he said.
