City records 78 fire incidents in two days

The city of Ludhiana witnessed a surge in fire incidents during the Diwali celebrations, with 53 fires reported between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning and 25 incidents on Thursday. This exceeds last year’s total of 32 incidents, likely due to the extended celebrations.

Two big fires occurred at a scrap godown in Jarkhar and a crockery shop near Maghar di Chakki on ATI Road. The scrap godown fire, located in a remote field area, proved challenging due to limited water availability and accessibility issues. Firefighters took 12 hours and used more than 100 fire tenders to contain the blaze, which produced a massive cloud of black smoke due to explosions in the scrap.

Another major fire broke out in Police Lines here, where some vehicles were gutted in the flames. These vehicles had been impounded by the city police in various cases and kept at the Police Lines as case properties.

Meanwhile, a family of three narrowly escaped at a crockery shop by jumping to an adjacent building, with one member suffering a leg fracture. Eyewitnesses reported two LPG cylinder blasts and firefighters struggled to control the fire due to the large stock of combustible materials.

Sub-fire officer Aatish Rai stated that reaching the Jarkhar location was difficult due to narrow roads and complete darkness. The team relied on pipes to control the fire. Poor visibility on Friday night, caused by smog from bursting crackers, hindered the firefighting efforts. Fortunately, lesser traffic facilitated the movement of fire tenders.

Fires in garbage dumps near the vegetable market on Bahadurke Road and the main garbage dump in Jamalpur added to the firefighters’ woes. Two fire tenders were deployed to control the blazes.

The spate of fires has left residents frightened, with videos of the incidents circulating on social media. The exact causes of the fires remain unknown, but the authorities concerned suspect crackers or short circuits to be responsible.

In total, 78 fire incidents were reported in the last two days during Diwali celebrations. It is learnt that 115 fire officials were on duty to take emergency fire call. They remained on toes for 24 hours. No injury or casualty was reported.