‘Fire alerts surge to 100 daily in Capital’

NEW DELHI: As mercury soars in the national capital, the Delhi Fire Service is witnessing a spike in emergency calls with majority fire-related incidents being reported from densely populated areas, industrial hubs, and markets, officials said on Friday. According to the officials, the fire department is receiving almost 100 emergency calls every day, an increase attributed to soaring temperatures, overloaded electrical circuits, and increased usage of cooling appliances like ACs and coolers. Most incidents are being reported from densely populated residential areas, industrial hubs, and markets, where flammable materials and dangling electricity wires are the major issues, DFS officials said. “The hot weather is acting as a catalyst in many of these cases. Even a minor spark is enough to trigger a major fire during such dry and hot conditions,” a senior fire department officer said on the condition of anonymity.

The DFS has also urged residents to take basic precautions and ensure electrical maintenance at homes and workplaces. “During winters we receive around 50 to 60 calls daily on an average, but during summer these numbers shoot-up from 100 to over 150 calls a day,” the officer added. He said that last week the fire department had received over 170 calls in just a day. At least six people, including a three-year-old girl, were injured in five separate fire incidents reported from different parts of Delhi on Thursday. So far, two fire calls have already been reported in the city on Friday.