Starting April 14, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) started the Fire Service Week, an annual week-long campaign that will focus on drives and demonstrations towards raising awareness about fire safety measures in Mumbai. Alongside the MFB, this campaign will be observed by as many as 2,561 fire stations across the country since the week is also nationally known to be ‘Fire Service Week’. However, the origin of this date goes back to a dreaded April 14 afternoon back in 1944, when two back-to-back explosions rocked the entire island city of Mumbai (Bombay). What followed was a firefighting operation that went on for three days, claiming 476 lives. The Bombay dock explosions In February 1944, when the Second World War was at its peak, the British freighter SS Fort Strikine had sailed from England as part of a naval convoy comprising 20 ships. The convoy was heading to Asian waters to load itself with ammunition and supplies for carrying out a strike against the Japanese forces. Besides ammunition and explosives, the frigate also had gold bars …