18 fire incidents reported from city on Diwali night

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 8

On Diwali, as many as 18 fire incidents were reported from the city. However, no causality was reported. The Fire Department used 12 fire tenders at various places to douse the flames.

Officials of the department said the no major fire incident was reported from any area. “We were ready to avert any major tragedy too,” they said.

The areas from where the incidents were reported include Ravidas Road, Jola village on the Hoshiarpur road, Qazi Mandi, Golden Avenue, among others.

There were many areas where the fire tenders were kept on standby.

Fire Department staff had also been asked not to go on leave for three days around Diwali.

Most of the fire tenders and water tanks of the department were too old to function properly. A substation was also inaugurated at the Cantonment board office a day before the festival as many fire incidents have been reported from around the area. In the absence of the fire tenders and a station, people used to face difficulty during fire incidents as they fail to get any help from the authorities.

But this time, a fire tender was shifted from the main station to the Cantonment Board substation.

To upgrade the infrastructure, as many as three fire tenders were provided by the government in 2016 and one in 2017.