Ban on crackers: Delhi fire department receives fewer calls on Diwali this year

The Delhi Fire Services received 204 calls related to fire incidents from across the national capital on Diwali this year

New Delhi: With no casualties and almost 20% fewer calls as compared to 2016 to the fire brigade, Delhiites witnessed the safest Diwali night in the last two years.

Children play with firecrackers to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in New Delhi on Diwali on October 19, 2017. (AP Photo)

This year, the fire department received 204 calls on Diwali, 39 calls more than last year’s 243. In 2015, the number was 290, 40% more than this year and also the maximum number of calls received by the department in the last decade. However, in 2012 and 2013, the department received less than 200 calls.

Of all the calls made by Delhiites on Thursday, the maximum, 126, were made between 6pm till midnight, of which 70 were made after 9pm.

Firemen credited better preparedness and lesser traffic for an improved response time.

GC Misra, fire department chief, said most of the calls were from east Delhi. It was in east Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar that a medium fire broke out causing minor burns to a couple of firemen.

Janakpuri fire station in west Delhi accounted for the most calls in a particular area in the city. No casualties were reported.

“Unlike 2016, where we had 22 emergency fire tenders ready, we had 28 this time, allowing us more time to respond swiftly. We had kept them on standby on more vulnerable locations on the basis of last year’s numbers,” said Misra.

“Our data shows that in the past, over 65% of the fires that broke out were either due to electrical problems or naked flame from earthen lamps,” said Misra.