Fire breaks out at Delhi shop, over 90 fire-related calls on Diwali

A blaze at a shop in Sadar Bazaar area of Delhi was among the over 90 fire-related incidents reported on Diwali, officials said. Ninety-six fire-related calls were received from Saturday midnight until 6 pm on Sunday. However, no injury or casualty has been reported in any of the incidents so far, officials said.

"The fire broke out in a shop that was housed on the fourth and fifth floors of the building and contained packaging materials and plastic toys, which were gutted in the blaze", a fire official said.

The call about the blaze in the shop was received at 3 PM, after which 12 fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control by 4.25 pm, he said. The official said a fire broke out at a sanitary shop in northeast Delhi's Jagatpuri area. The call about the fire was received at 2.51 pm after which six fire tenders were pressed into service. The fire was brought under control within an hour, the officer added. The officials said they are attending to calls related to fire incidents, but may not be able to share details if the fire was due to cracker or short circuit as the priority is to attend to emergencies and control the fire. The exact cause of fire will not be known immediately and will be ascertained, they said.

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200 fire-related calls on Diwali last year

Out of the total calls, no such major fire incident has been reported in Delhi so far. Maximum calls were received from the south, east and west districts of Delhi.

"We have been receiving frequent calls from across the city. However, maximum calls have been received from west, east and southern parts of Delhi until now," the official said.

According to the fire department, it received over 200 fire-related calls on Diwali last year despite a ban on the sale of firecrackers. This year, too, there was a ban on the sale of illegal firecrackers and time restrictions on bursting of green firecrackers, which was allowed only between 8-10 pm. Delhi Fire Services has not only deployed 2,000 officers across the city to tackle emergencies on Diwali but has also stationed 25 officials to man its control room to deal with any fire-related calls. Besides the 61 permanent fire stations in Delhi, the department has set up temporary stations at different locations across the city.

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