He will always be my mentor, says late fireman Nitin Ivalekar's colleague

We will be able to douse the fire It is not impossible Be saferdquo those were the last words Nitin Ivalekar 34 spoke to his colleague fireman Dattaram Govind Munde 23 who joined the fire department six months ago before Ivalekar went upto the 21st floor of Lotus Business Park never to return recalled Munde from bed no 2 of Cooper hospitalAlso read Nitin Ivalekars wife delays funeral demands compensation in writingNitin Ivalekar below often gave Dattaram Govind Munde tips on firefighting techniques Narrating the sequence of events before he lost his senior colleague on Friday afternoon in the blaze in the Andheri highrise Munde said he will always remember Ivalekarrsquos last words ldquoOnly he could not return safe He was like my mentorrdquo in a choked voice Munde told sunday middayOn a missionA resident of Malvani the 23yearold had joined the fire department six months ago and was posted at Borivli fire station since then On the fateful day both Munde and Ivalekar were on the first shift and had reported to work at 7 am Around 1015 am the fire incharge at Borivli fire station alerted them about the call they had received from the fire control room and that they had been asked to rush towards Lotus Business ParkAfter reaching the highrise they received a call on the walkie talkie asking them to bring a hosepipe for the fire crew inside the building The duo wore their protective breathing apparatus and entered with the hosepipeldquoAs we kept climbing the staircase Nitin was explaining to me how he had taken part in a fire fighting operation on a 36th floor highrise earlier and how they had controlled the fire from spreading Also he was explaining to me the various fire fighting techniques As we reached the higher floors the smoke started becoming thicker But he kept saying lsquoHi aag aapan vijvu shakto vijvu appanrsquo We can douse this fire we willrdquo said MundeThe last few minutesBy this time the fire had spread to the 19th and 21st floors as well trapping the duo in the middle ldquoWe were looking for an escape route As Nitin and I had the breathing apparatus we ventured into the smoke looking for a safer space Nitin ran towards the 21st floor and then he didnrsquot come back We looked for him all over and finally found him motionless Even the breathing apparatus mask was up in flames We brought him down through the staircase and took him to Cooper hospital in the fire brigadersquos ambulance but he was declared dead on arrivalrdquo said Munde The scene is still fresh in his mind ldquoI cannot forget what I saw Nitin was alive and was confident of fighting the fire and the very next moment he was trapped in the same fire But his teachings will always remain fresh in my memory I will forever think of him as my mentorrdquo Munde addedAlso read Andheri tower blaze Wed rather jump than burn to death say firemenAutopsy findingsIvalekarrsquos body was brought to Cooper postmortem centre at 735 pm on Friday where an autopsy was performed Post the autopsy as per the request of the family his mortal remains were kept in the mortuary until Saturday morning According to the forensic surgeon who conducted the autopsy the body had turned black and reddish due to extensive heat and burns Also the deceased had inhaled a lot of smoke The cause of death was given as lsquodeath due to burn shockrsquo Meanwhile the Amboli police have registered a case of accidental death under section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code