Harshini Kanhekar Biography 
Harshini Kanhekar is India’s first woman firefighter. She is employed with country’s fire services. Harshini joined the Mehsana fire station in Gujarat in 2006, the second largest onshore production of ONGC in public sector. She broke into the male bastion, becoming India’s first ever Woman Fire Fighter. It took long 46 years National Fire Service College (NFSC) of Nagpur to see a woman in its uniform and Harshini became the first female to break this norm in 2002. She was 26 years old then. As a part of her service, she has extinguished fire in many places, worked for long hours and also saved many civilian lives.
She has been interested in adventure since young. As she grew up, her ambitions only grew strong. Harshini discovered her appetite for adventure after signing up for the National Cadet Corps Air Wing. She dreamed to don a uniform and serve the country. Fresh from college, she applied to Nagpur’s National Fire Service College (NFSC), an all-male bastion. When she got qualified, she was supported by her parents. She worked hard to clear the course. She had to work with heavy water hoses and suction hoses like her male counterparts during her training course.
As the first woman ever to take the course, she was very much careful, as she knew well everyone around are watching her, and she need to set benchmarks for females to come. After graduating from NFSC, Harshini joined the fire fighter services at the age of 26. She was designated as a fire engineer at ONGC. Prior to it, she had some handy experiences with extinguishing big fires in Delhi and Kolkata. Her longest operation was in Delhi when a shoe factory caught fire, and she worked 6 hours in a stretch.
Published: February 19, 2019
Updated: February 20, 2019
