190 fire calls on Diwali, cloth godown gutted in east Delhi

As many as 190 fire-related incidents were reported in the national capital on Diwali, which included a big blaze in a godown in east Delhi last night, fire department officials said today.
The maximum number of calls were made from east and west Delhi and the least from southern parts of the city, a senior official said.
This year, out of the total 204 calls made to the city's fire department, 190 were on fire incidents, including 51 related to the use of crackers, and the rest pertained to animal rescue and house collapse, he said.
However, it was less than last year when 243 calls were received, the official said.

According to the department, three people were injured in fire incidents and as many in house collapses.
The department handled 182 calls between 6 pm yesterday till this morning, which was about 30 per cent less than last year's 262 calls, Director Delhi Fire Services G C Mishra said.

He said that similarly, this year from midnight till 7 am yesterday, 55 calls were received, compared to 107 calls last year, a decline of almost 48 per cent.
"Majority of the calls were made to the department between 8 pm and 11.30 pm," another official said.
This can be attributed to the Supreme Court banning the sale of firecrackers. Moreover, people have become more aware and are now against bursting crackers, he said.

In the godown fire a fireman suffered minor injuries, a Delhi Fire Service (DFS) official said.
"The incident was reported at 10:10 pm from the Subhash Mohalla area. Twenty-six fire tenders were sent to the spot and the blaze was brought under control by 2.45 am," he said.
The official said fire-related calls were received post-Diwali midnight as well. "From midnight till 6 pm today, the department has received more than 150 calls related to fire and other incidents," he said.
Besides the 59 permanent fire stations in the national capital, the department had also set up temporary stations at 28 locations across the city.

The department had also increased the number of phone lines to the control room.
Last year, the DFS control room had received 243 calls between 5 PM and midnight on Diwali and another 107 calls between midnight and morning.