One doesn't normally associate the adage, 'Once bitten, twice shy,' with the Fire Brigade. But the death of two Fire Brigade officers due to inhalation of toxic gas when they entered a well in November at Kalyan for a rescue, seems to have made the department overtly cautious.

Called to rescue a person who had fallen into a well in Bazarpeth area, also in Kalyan, early on Monday, Fire Brigade personnel did not enter it and allegedly waited three hours for a scuba diver to arrive and retrieve the body.