New Delhi: A blaze at a shop in the Sadar Bazar area of central Delhi was among the over 200 fire-related incidents reported on Diwali, officials said.
As many as 214 fire-related calls were received from Saturday midnight until 11 pm on Sunday. “There has been no decline in the number of calls related to fire-incidents. We have been constantly attending to emergencies on call and rushing our team to the spot,” a senior fire official said.
However, no injury or casualty has been reported in any of the incident so far, officials said. “The fire broke out in a shop that was housed on the fourth and fifth floors of the building and contained packaging materials and plastic toys, which were gutted in the blaze,” the fire official said.
The call about the blaze in the shop was received at 3 pm, after which 12 fire tenders were rushed and the blaze was brought under control by 4.25 pm, he said.
A fire also broke out at a sanitary shop in northeast Delhi’s Jagatpuri area, the official said. The call about the fire was received at 2.51 pm after which six fire tenders were pressed into service. The fire was brought under control within an hour.
The officials said they are attending to several calls related to fire incidents, but may not be able to share details as the priority is to attend the emergencies. The exact cause of fire will not be known immediately and will be ascertained, they said.
Out of the total calls, no major fire incident has been reported in Delhi. But fire incidents were reported at dumping grounds. Besides, fire incidents were also reported from houses due to domestic items, those related to electric wires and transformers. “We have been receiving frequent calls from across the city. However, maximum calls have been received from west, northeast and southern parts of Delhi until now,” the official said.
According to the fire department, it received over 200 fire-related calls on Diwali last year despite a ban on sale of fire crackers. Like last year, there has been no decline in number of calls related to fire-incidents, despite a ban on sale of illegal fire crackers and time restrictions on bursting of green firecrackers, which was allowed only between 8-10 pm.
Delhi Fire Services has not only deployed 2,000 officers across the city to tackle emergencies on Deepavali, but has also stationed 25 officials to man its control room to deal with any fire-related calls. Besides the 61 permanent fire stations in the Delhi, the department has also set up temporary stations at different locations across the city.