New Delhi [India], November 1 : This Diwali, Delhi witnessed a record-breaking number of fire incidents, with the Delhi Fire Service receiving the highest number of calls since 2012. As of midnight on Diwali day, the service reported an unprecedented surge in fire incidents, marking a 12-year high.
According to Delhi Fire Service, they received 318 calls, from the year 2023 this figure was 208, in 2022 it was 201, in 2021 it was 152 and in 2012 it was 184. On Thursday night of Diwali, the peak hour calls in Delhi were 310 while last year it was only 195.
Speaking to ANI, Fire Servvices Director, Atul Garg said that there were not many major calls yesterday but there were a lot of calls. Yesterday, from 5 pm to 5 am, there were more than 300 calls, out of which 192 calls were received from 5 pm to 12 am and 158 calls were received from 12 am to 6 am.
"The happy thing is that there was no major fire. A fire broke out in Vikaspuri in which two people fainted, a fire broke out in Mangolpuri in which a lady and two children suffered burn injuries, a factory caught fire in Nangloi, a showroom caught fire in Shahdara, these were small fires which we controlled, the reason for this was the fire posts installed by us, 6 more fire posts were installed compared to last time. Yesterday, there were more calls but there was no major fire which required sending more vehicles and took more time," he said.
He further said that two people were injured in a fire in household goods in a flat located on the first floor of Gangotri Apartment in Vikaspuri, Delhi. The DFS team broke the window and pulled out two unconscious persons from the flat, who were taken to the hospital.
Additionally, he said that more fire-related calls were received this year due to firecrackers, but more calls came in for fires caused by candles, diyas, and short circuits.
"This time the calls have been more as compared to previous years, but I would say that only one call has been made due to firecrackers, yesterday less fires were caused due to firecrackers but more were caused due to other reasons like candles, diyas, short circuit in lighting etc. due to these more fires were caused, in previous years around 130 calls used to be received due to firecrackers, but this time the calls have reduced due to firecrackers. I want to tell people that they should understand that they should not burn firecrackers as it harms the environment and that harms us in the future," he said.
Apart from this, in a separate incident, a fire broke out in a tent warehouse on the ground, first, second and third floor (including all floors) in the Mangolpuri area early this morning, an area of 75 square yards, a woman and two children living on the second floor got burnt, who were taken to the hospital, 6 fire engines extinguished the fire. Another fire incident was also reported in a cardboard factory in the Rajdhani Park area near Nangloi in Delhi, a banquet hall pandal caught fire in Kanti Nagar near Shahdara in Delhi.
A fire broke out on a DTC bus in the Najafgarh area after a passenger was carrying potash, a key ingredient in firecracker production, causing injuries to two people.