43 fire incidents on Diwali night in Ludhiana

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 5

This Diwali, the industrial hub witnessed as many as 43 fire incidents, which kept the firemen on toes for the entire night.

As per the data obtained from the Fire Department, out of 43 incidents, 11 took place at various factories, while the remaining were reported in empty plots, shops, houses and on roads. Only a few fire incidents were major, while rest were minor ones, hence controlled in no time.

Fire officials said last year 32 fire incidents had taken place in the city on Diwali night and this Diwali witnessed nine more incidents.

The first incident took place at a hosiery unit in Shivpuri at 8.05 pm. The factory was closed when the fire broke out. It was suspected that some burning crackers could have fallen inside the factory, which caused fire. To reach the spot, firemen had to struggle hard as roads leading to the factory were narrow and also congested with traffic.

Another major incident took place at Sundar Nagar at around 9.15 pm where goods and machinery worth several lakhs of rupees were gutted in the fire. Firemen took more than three hours to control the flames. The third major incident took place in the two halls of the washing unit of a hosiery unit on Kali Sadak at around 10.20 pm. Fire was intense and firemen took more than three hours to completely douse the flames. Although the factory was closed but some factory workers were present in the factory and they had to rush out immediately from the factory to save their lives.

Aatish Rai, Sub Fire Officer said firemen were already prepared to tackle fire incidents for Diwali night and firefighters quickly reacted to the fire calls and reached everywhere in the minimum possible time.

Meanwhile, son of a sub fire officer Rajinder Pal died of dengue last night. Rajinder was on duty on Thursday night when he heard the news. All fire officials extended condolences to the bereaved family.