A record number of emergency calls, including that of fire incidents, were received on Diwali day from across the city, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said on Friday.
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Data shared by DFS showed that 318 emergency calls, including 280 related to fire incidents, were received at the fire control room between 5pm on Thursday and 5am on Friday — the highest since 2012.
There were at least three serious fire incidents reported in the city, officials said. However, the exact number of deaths and injuries caused in fire and other mishaps during Diwali was not immediately known.
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Last Diwali, the fire control room received 208 such calls. In 2022 and 2021, the number of emergency calls were 201 and 152, respectively.
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DFS chief Atul Garg said that at least 144 calls were received between 12.01am and 6am on Friday. There were at least three serious fire incidents of “Make 4” category that were received from Kalkaji in south Delhi, Nirman Vihar in east Delhi, and Mangolpuri in outer Delhi, he said.
Meanwhile, officials said they were in the process of collecting data regarding injuries and casualties, if any.
DFS had deployed fire tenders at 23 locations across the city on Diwali eve (Wednesday) and Diwali (Thursday) in order to ensure that fire incidents were quickly addressed and no serious mishaps occur. The fire department had also planned to deploy motorcycle-borne firefighters equipped with portable fire extinguishers, also known as “water mist backpacks” at nine different locations for rapid firefighting action in congested neighbourhoods that have narrow lanes where larger fire tenders cannot reach.
