Delhi: Fire at Shastri Park furniture market injures DFS officer; stone pelting erupts

Massive blaze broke out at furniture market near Delhi Metro’s Seelampur station in northeast Delhi’s Shastri Park area, engulfing several furniture shops operating mostly under tin sheds

A fire department officer was injured as 25 fire tenders battled a massive blaze that broke out at a furniture market near Delhi Metro’s Seelampur station in northeast Delhi’s Shastri Park area on Friday night, engulfing several furniture shops operating mostly under tin sheds, according to police and fire department officers.

Around 25 fire tenders battled a massive blaze that broke out at a furniture market near Delhi Metro’s Seelampur station in northeast Delhi’s Shastri Park area. (Screenshot)

A few locals allegedly pelted stones at a firefighting vehicle, alleging that the fire trucks had arrived late, officials said, adding that the glass of a fire tender was also damaged during the stone pelting. A video of the incident was later widely shared on social media platforms.

The clip shows people pelting stones at a fire tender, damaging its front windshield glass. A man is seen standing in front of the fire truck amid the stone pelting, signalling people not to throw stones. Scores of people are later seen gathered around the fire truck in the video, with some heard saying that the fire tenders arrived only after the furniture shops had already been gutted. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video clip.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officers said that at 11.57 pm, the fire control room received a call regarding a blaze at a furniture market near the Seelampur Metro station. Initially, six fire tenders were dispatched to the scene to control the fire and prevent it from spreading further.

“Since the fire was in a congested market, mostly running under tin sheds and having inflammable articles such as furniture and adhesives, the fire spread quickly and engulfed many shops. Ten more fire tenders were brought in to control the situation,” a senior DFS officer said.

The fire department officer was injured after the tin shed of one of the shops he was standing on during the firefighting operation collapsed, causing him to fall.

The officer said that at around 12.50 am, fire station officer (FSO) Anoop Singh asked for police personnel after members of the public resorted to stone pelting.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Sandeep Lamba said police personnel were rushed to the spot after being informed about the fire incident.

“An additional force was sent there to prevent the public from stone pelting and avoid any law and order situation. It was a brief incident of stone pelting in which nobody was injured. The situation was quickly brought under control and the firefighting operation continued till early morning. Some police staff are still there to keep the situation under control,” said Lamba.

By 12.55 am, the fire was declared a medium-category blaze and more fire tenders were called in. A total of 25 fire tenders were used to douse the fire.

“While the fire has been doused, the cooling operation is still continuing. Our assistant divisional officer (ADO) Rajesh Shukla suffered injuries to his waist and lower body after a tin shed he was on collapsed. Except for some damage to the fire truck’s glass, nobody was injured in the brief stone-pelting incident,” said DFS divisional officer (DO) Rajinder Atwal.