MillenniumPost
Delhi

Short-staffed DFS dealt with over 23,000 calls this year

NEW DELHI: For the Delhi Fire Services (DFS), 2017 has been a very busy year, having received over 23,000 calls over various kinds of incident.
Despite facing a staff crunch, the fire department has mostly been quick in reaching the spot of an accident immediately after getting the call.
Data accessed by Millennium Post shows that this year, DFS received as many as 23,417 calls. till October 23, including incidents of fire, people stuck in sewers, road and/or building collapse and drowning.
In 2016, the calls received were around 31,304.
The data further shows that the highest number of calls received by DFS were in April and May, with 3,395 and 2,994 calls, respectively.
In 2016, the most calls received were 3,300 in April, 3,560 in May and 3,645 in June.
In July this year, 1,931 call were received, fewer than the calls received in the nine months so far this year.
According to fire officials, they are facing a staff crunch of more than 40 per cent. "DFS has been working hard with half the man power," said the official.
Lauding his brave firefighters, Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg says that their response time has been very good.
According to the official, in some occasions last year, they had received calls almost every minute, and barely had minutes to reach the spot.
This Diwali, DFS had received 204 fire calls. According to Garg, all necessary arrangements were made from their side before the festival itself, as all 63 fire stations were on alert. During these rescue and firefighting operations, 1,800 fire personnel were on duty, with many sacrificing their sleep.
On many occasions, family members of the firefighters also call them during an operation to know about their condition.
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