LUCKNOW With back-to-back fire incidents in the city, the fire department has drawn up plans to conduct electrical safety audits across warehouses wherein notices will also be served on those violating safety procedures.
“Earlier, we sent notices to hospitals and hotels across the city post electrical audits. Now the fire department is planning to send notices to big warehouses and godowns,” said chief fire officer (CFO) Mangesh Kumar. “Electrical audits will be conducted at these places, and it will be checked if they have NoC or they are following safety standards or not,” he said.
According to an audit conducted by the fire department, 80% of fire incidents are happening due to electrical short circuits, said the CFO. “Under the new UP Fire and Emergency Services Act, 2022, it is mandatory to have a miniature circuit breaker (MCB) outside godowns and warehouses to prevent such fire incidents,” he added.
On Thursday morning, a fire incident was reported at an auto spare parts showroom in a two-storey building also housing a gym. The place on Faizabad Road belonged to one Amit Jaiswal, said Lucknow police in a release, adding that there were no injuries or casualties in the incident.
The fire broke out around 6:16am. It was a narrow escape for many people exercising in the gym who escaped after seeing the smoke coming from the floor below.
“The building also had a motor showroom on the first floor and a gym on the second floor which also caught fire,” said the CFO. The blaze was doused around 10:30am by fire personnel and there was no loss of life, he added.
On Wednesday, an electronics warehouse in the Madiaon area caught fire reportedly due to a short circuit.
On Tuesday morning also, there was a massive blaze at a warehouse of an electronics company in Sairpur area of Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT) where several home appliances such as fridges, coolers, ACs and other items worth crores were gutted. The blaze was so intense that locals saw the smoke spreading up to 3 kms. However, no casualty was reported.
On September 26, a fire on the fourth floor of a commercial building on Latouche Road destroyed electrical items worth crores. The blaze was doused after a 28-hour operation.
