Transformer wire snaps & sparks fire, 30 vehicles kept at police station gutted

Ghaziabad: More than 30 vehicles parked at Loni police station were gutted in a fire on Saturday night. According to the fire department, the blaze began after a transformer wire snapped and touched one of the ambulances parked inside the adjoining community health centre. The fire then spread to vehicles seized under the Motor Vehicles Act and parked along roadside outside the police station’s boundary wall. No casualties were reported.Chief fire officer (CFO) Rahul Pal said Tronica City fire station received information about the blaze around 9.50pm. A fire tender and a service unit were immediately sent to the spot.“The fire engulfed vehicles parked both inside the police station compound and those kept on roadside outside the boundary wall. The fire service unit immediately laid out hose pipes and began pumping water to douse the fire. Considering the scale of blaze, two more fire tenders were called to the site from Tronica City fire station, and one from Sahibabad fire station,” he said.Pal said a total of five ambulances, declared unfit for service, were parked at the community health centre. “The fire spread to vehicles seized under the MV Act, comprising one mini bus, two DCM trucks, two tractors, four autos and 22 cars,” he said, adding that the fire was extinguished around 10.50pm.In another incident on Sunday afternoon, a fire broke out in a house at Gagan Vihar in Bhopura.The CFO said a fire tender was dispatched soon after the department received information. The fire broke out on the second floor of the house. However, the fire tender could not reach the house because of a narrow lane. It was eventually extinguished using water drawn from a nearby submersible pump.“An examination revealed that the fire was triggered by an electrical short circuit. At the time of the incident, house owner Sumit Kumar got out with his family. No injuries were reported,” he said.