Out of 737 fire incidents in Ghaziabad this year, 518 were reported in April and May.

Ghaziabad

There have been 737 fires from January to May this year, including 518 in April and May, compared to 271 fires recorded in April to May 2023, according to data shared by the fire department. increased, which caused overloading of AC and generator sets due to rising temperatures.

Several fatal incidents of fires due to short circuits in air conditioners and other electrical appliances have been reported in the city.

“The major cause of fire in this season is abnormal rise in temperature. Most of the calls, up to 90 per cent, are due to short circuits, explosions in ACs, faulty transformers and short circuits in electrical panels and appliances in homes. Even a rise in temperature of 1-2 degrees can cause a fire,” said Rahul Pal, Chief Fire Officer.

According to data shared by the fire department, there were 910, 931, 1,103 and 1,058 fires in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively. In comparison, this year's toll has already reached 737, raising concerns, officials said.

On June 12, five people, including two women and two children, were burnt to death in a fire that broke out in their house in Tella Shahbazpur area of ​​Loni due to a suspected short circuit. Two others were also injured in the incident.

On June 15, a major fire broke out at a chemical unit in Tronica City, which later engulfed two nearby industrial units. The department took about 10 hours to control the fire and deployed 22 fire tenders.

“The movement of fire tenders is restricted in densely populated and unplanned areas where there are narrow lanes. Fire tenders cannot enter easily here. We have seen fire tenders in Khoda, Shaheed Nagar, Arthala, Keila Bhatta and Loni. have identified such areas,” Paul said.

The residents have also suffered financial loss due to the fire.

In an incident on May 18, two DG sets burnt down at Arihant Harmony High Rise in Indirapuram, damaging four nearby flats. “We estimate that the total loss caused by the fire is over. ₹1 crore. Regular operation of DG sets is likely to cause overheating. DG's seats were burnt. After the structural safety check, repair work was also started on four flats,” said BK Pandey, manager of High Rise.