Heat wave: 20% spike in fire outbreaks

AHMEDABAD: The unusual heat has led to an increase in fire incidents in the city. In April and May this year, the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) has recorded a 20% rise in outbreaks of fire in the city and its periphery than it had in 2014.
AFES officials say in the period from April 1 to May 27, they had attended to 343 cases � 179 in April and 164 in May � compared to 275 they attended to in April and May 2014.
Rajesh Bhatt, additional chief fire officer, AFES, said that the rise in fire incidents can surely be attributed to the prevailing heat wave. "The biggest victims are establishments such as factories and warehouses. As was evident from the recent blaze at Danilimda, rise in temperature in close confines increases the possibility of fire," he said. He further said that around 50 cases in which dry grass in open plots had caught fire had been reported.
Storage and selling units for various types of solvents at Raj Trading in Ram Rahim no Tekro had reported a major fire on Tuesday. It took nearly 12 hours to douse the flames. Three vehicles and two nearby shanties were also damaged in the incident.
Fire brigade officials said that apart from the rise in overall numbers, this summer the number of major calls that involved longer firefighting time and greater monetary loss, is over 20. In the past two months, the AFES has attended to calls in areas such as Vatva GIDC, Ujala circle, Danilimda, Naroda and Kathlal where firefighting had continued for over eight hours.
In the past two months, around 38 cases of parked vehicles catching fire have been reported in Ahmedabad city alone.