‘Firefighters pelted with stones during Rohini slum blaze dousing operation’

NEW DELHI: Slum residents in Rohini Sector 17 pelted the fire brigade with stones when it reached the spot to put out a blaze, a source on Tuesday said.

More than 800 shanties in a jhuggi cluster in Rohini were reduced to ashes after a massive fire broke out there Sunday, killing two children.

“Yes, when our teams reached the spot, some residents of the same area started pelting stones at firefighters, which added more challenges in dousing the flames,” said the source.

According to a slum resident, who lost his nephew in the fire, the fire brigade reached the spot after around 40 minutes of the first call – enough time for the slum to be reduced into a charred heap.

“It took them around 40 minutes to reach. We had lost everything by then,” Josan, 52, a maternal uncle of 2.5-year-old Alam, who perished in the fire, said.

He did not witness any stone pelting, he added. The source said the fire tenders had to negotiate heavy traffic and narrow lanes to reach the spot.

“Our firefighters are capable of handling any situation. But sometimes they have to face a lot of challenges on the ground. Firefighting is one of the most challenging jobs, as the risk of getting injured or even losing life is very high. All we want is cooperation,” he said.

A Delhi Fire Service official on Monday conceded that the firefighters had a hard time reaching the spot because of the buildings surrounding the hutments. “There is an apartment complex with boundary walls in front of the affected area that made access extremely difficult. Fire engines had to be lined up one behind the other, and the operation got delayed,” he said.

Besides Alam, the son of a ragpicker, there was Sayda, aged three, whose body was extracted from the remains.

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta offered condolences to slum residents and extended government aid. Local MLA and the sub-divisional magistrate coordinated relief efforts, providing mobile toilets, medical help, and food.

Despite a rise in fire calls over three years, fire-related fatalities decreased in 2025, with 23 deaths, a 52 per

cent drop from 2024.