Firefighters were kept on their toes on Diwali in Ghaziabad, with the city reporting about 60 fire related calls from different areas, said fire department officials on Friday, adding that most fires were triggered by fireworks and lighting of diyas/candles, while a few were caused by short-circuits.
The officials of the district fire department said 21 fire related calls were received at Vaishali fire station, 17 at Kotwali station, 14 at Sahibabad, seven at Loni and one at Modinagar till late Thursday night (October 31).
They said fire incidents were reported from Crossings Republik, Loni, Rajendra Nagar industrial area, Shastri Nagar, DLF Ankur Vihar, Gya Khand 1 in Indirapuram, Chopla market, among others.
“Last year, there were a total of 23 fire related calls on Diwali while this year such calls have increased to 60. The most probable cause of fires was firecrackers and lit diyas/candles left unattended. We doused the fires promptly using fire tenders and personnel from different stations. There was no loss of life or injury,” said Rahul Pal, chief fire officer, Ghaziabad.
The officials said fire tenders were kept available at fire stations across the district while personnel were deployed at 14 locations of Atal Chowk at Vasundhara, Kala Patthar at Indirapuram, Farrukhnagar, Lajpat Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Crossings Republik, Raj Nagar Extension, Old bus stand, Raj Chopla in Modinagar, among others.
“With strategic deployment of personnel and fire tenders, the department was able to attend fire calls on an urgent basis on the night of Diwali. The deployment helped us reach to incident sites speedily and prevented loss of life and/or injury,” the CFO said.
