Of 737 fires in Ghaziabad this year, 518 reported in April and May

Ghaziabad

There have been 737 incidents of fire from January to May this year, with April and May accounting for 518 of these incidents, according to data shared by the fire department, marking a substantial rise from 271 fires recorded in April-May 2023, which was attributed to soaring temperatures leading to overloading of ACs and generator sets.

Multiple fatal incidents of fire due to short-circuit in air-conditioners and other electrical appliances have been reported in the city.

“The prime reason for spike in fires this season is due to exceptional rise in temperature. The majority of the calls, as much as 90%, were of short-circuits, blasts in ACs, malfunction of transformers and short-circuit in electrical panels and appliances in households. Even a 1-2 degree rise in temperature can result in fire,” Rahul Pal, chief fire officer, said.

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 figure has already reached 737, raising concern, officials said.

On June 12, five persons, including two women and two children, were charred to death in a major fire due to a suspected short-circuit that engulfed their house in Loni’s Tila Shahbazpur locality. The incident also left two others injured.

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

“The movement of fire tenders gets restricted in densely populated and unplanned localities having narrow lanes. Here, fire tenders cannot enter easily. We have identified such areas in Khoda, Shaheed Nagar, Arthala, Kaila Bhatta and in Loni, among others,” Pal said.

Residents have also suffered financial loss due to fires.

In an incident on May 18, two DG sets were gutted at Arihant Harmony high-rise in Indirapuram, causing damage to four flats in the vicinity. “We estimate that the total loss due to the fire was over ₹1 crore. The regular operation of DG sets probably led to overheating. The DG sets were charred. The repair of four flats was also taken up after conduct of structural safety check,” BK Pandey, manager of the high-rise, said.