—Atul Garg
The commencement of the summer season every year is usually accompanied by a rise in fire incidents across the country — whether in residential areas, commercial areas, industrial areas or forests. Usually, the fires are reported from enclosed spaces, vehicles, short circuits and outdoor spots. However, with the onset of the scorching heat, during the summer, this year, the capital city witnessed several major fire incidents so far. Calls to the Delhi Fire Service have also gone up compared to the last year during the same period.
Starting with a major fire engulfing the Maiden Crown banquet hall in the capital city’s Peera Garhi Chowk area on April 10, an Air Conditioner compressor explosion took place in Southeast Delhi’s Jamia Nagar on April 14 — where two people lost their lives. In the third major such incident, a fire broke out at East Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill where the fire got controlled after almost 50 hours. Following a similar gigantic fire incident on April 26, at the Bhalswa landfill site in North Delhi, it took almost three days to control the fire. These fire incidents in landfills also created massive air pollution in adjacent areas and caused major health hazards to the residents.
When asked, experts say that as fire smoulders in the interior, a lot of effort is needed to control fire in the landfill. When the fire is in the upper part, it gets controlled but due to the smouldering fire in the inner part, the fire flares up again. These garbage dumps have the highest amount of plastic — making such fires difficult to control; plastic also stops water from going inside where exactly the fire is burning. In controlling such fires, the firefighters face trouble, as the fire engines are filled with water and weigh more. While trying to get the fire tenders deep inside, there also arises the possibility of accidents. So, extra hoses have to be installed to reach the fire.
Meanwhile, fire officials mentioned the scorching heat during the summer season to be the prime reason behind such an immense blaze. Methane gas, which is produced from waste, catches fire easily in these temperatures. There are many chemicals and compounds that can catch fire at higher temperatures. On the other hand, because of the summer, there is much more use of electric appliances like fans, coolers and air-conditioners. Owing to its increased passage, there is more electricity in circuits — leading to overheating, worsened by atmospheric heat. This leads to short circuits and sparking, causing fires. Also, vehicle fires go up because of similar issues in electrical circuits of vehicles and vapours of fuels catching fire.
Experts also say that in houses with tin roofs and walls, air temperatures soar. Attics or cramped spaces, where unused goods like papers, plastic objects, chemicals, and furniture are stored, are very vulnerable to fires during these months. The source of ignition can be a short circuit, overheating, leaked gas catching fire, human error etc. Dry garbage and dry foliage also catch fire more at higher temperatures. Every year, we see an upward trend in the number of fire incidents from January to May, the only exception being the lockdown period when there were fewer fires due to significantly less economic activity.
Director General of Delhi Fire Service (DFS) Atul Garg informed while speaking to the Millennium Post that for various types of buildings ranging from residential, commercial and industrial, there are a fixed set of fire safety rules that are mandated by the law. These include norms about fire safety equipment, structural norms such as those relating to exits and ventilation, the safety of
electrical equipment, handling of chemicals and explosives etc. In places with large footfalls — such as educational institutes, companies, assembly halls, theatres, hotels and courts — strict norms are in place as per the National Building Code. Similarly, any new construction in the national capital is bound to get NOC from the fire department.
“There are many building authorities here (Delhi) — DDA, Cantonment Board, Metro, Rail etc. — who send us recommendations for any new construction and ask us to check the fire safety measures. The DFS officials check and recommend the changes if needed... Post construction the officials survey the site and check the construction as per suggested drawing and provide the NOCs,” the DFS chief said.
However, in the recent incident in Mundka (Outer Delhi) where a fire engulfed a four-storey building and 27 people were killed and many went missing, an investigation report claimed that the building owner did not have an NOC.
In this
A total of
591 people died in fire incidents in 2021-22 whereas 346 people died in 2020-21