Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 21 Oct: Dehradun city on Diwali night witnessed as many as twelve fire incidents within a short span of six and a half hours. Most severe of the fires broke out at a plastic warehouse in Mehuwala and on the rooftop of Niranjanpur Mandi. Fortunately, timely intervention by the fire department and increased public awareness helped avert major loss of life and property. Still the losses due to fire incidents is estimated to be in several lakhs of rupees.
Though the number of fire emergency calls this year was lower than last year, firecrackers, particularly sky shots and rockets, once again emerged as the chief cause of the major blazes.
As the fireworks began lighting up the Diwali night sky, fire reports started pouring in. Between 7:30 p.m. and around 2 a.m. this morning, the fire station received twelve calls, most of them linked to firecrackers. Among these, the most critical were the incidents reported in Mehuwala and Niranjanpur Mandi.
A massive blaze engulfed a large plastic warehouse in Mehuwala, where the highly flammable material caused the fire to spread rapidly, posed a formidable challenge for the firefighting teams. It took nearly one and a half hours to bring the fire under control. The situation was aggravated by the dense toxic smoke and sharp, foul odour emanating from the burning plastic, which made breathing extremely difficult for, both, the firefighters and local residents. The fire department had to employ special exhausts to disperse the smoke and mitigate the odour.
Another serious fire broke out on the rooftop of a building at Niranjanpur Mandi, where fruit boxes, wooden materials, and fruits were stored under a plastic tarpaulin. Preliminary investigations suggest that a stray rocket or similar cracker might have ignited the plastic covering, triggering the blaze. Fortunately, all the occupants were able to evacuate in time, and no casualties have been reported.
Ten other incidents kept the fire department on its toes throughout Diwali night, including a fire at a shop in Dharamwala, a moving car on GMS Road, an electric short-circuit in Rajiv Nagar, a blaze in a poly house at Nehru Gram, a tree fire on Old Rajpur Road, and separate incidents involving a house and a car near Saraswati Vihar. All units of the Dehradun Fire Station acted swiftly on every call, preventing any major damage.
Fire Safety Officer Kishore Upadhyay expressed relief over the sharp decline in fire incidents compared to last Diwali, when 39 calls were received. He attributed this reduction to the fire department’s public awareness campaign, which discouraged residents from storing combustible materials such as junk on rooftops. This preventive step, he said, significantly reduced minor fire cases. Nevertheless, fireworks continued to be the main cause of most incidents this year, and detailed investigations are under way.
