Over 220 fire-related incidents in Delhi on Diwali

New Delhi, Oct 24: Fire fighters in the national capital had a hectic time on Diwali as they received 220 calls related to minor fire incidents. "220 fire-related incidents were reported on Diwali.

However, all incidents were minor. We had made elaborate arrangements to tackle such situations," an official of the fire department said today.

"No big casualty was reported. Our men were working all night," the official added. He said they were now compiling the data to find out how many fire tenders were used yesterday. According to Delhi Fire Services department, the span between 6 PM and 8 PM is said to be the peak hour for people bursting crackers and this is when 20-25 calls were received. Last year, fire brigade officials had responded to 75 calls in the duration.

In 2012, they had received 50-55 calls during this span, while in 2010 they had got a whopping 210 calls. The Delhi Fire Services had deployed fire tenders at 20 vulnerable locations in the city including congested areas and key market places in addition to its 56 fire stations.

Around 1,800 personnel of the Delhi Fire Services out of its total strength of 3,000 were on duty while 175 to 180 fire fighting vehicles along with 25 to 30 vehicles to provide logistics were also operational.

PTI