105 fires in 24 hours in Delhi

A fire also broke out behind the Yamuna Bank Metro station. (Source: Express Phoot by Prem Nath Pandey)

One person is also reported to have been killed.

One man was killed in a fire in North Delhi. In another incident, four horses were charred to death when they could not run after a fire broke out in a dense jhuggi-jhopri cluster in Southeast Delhi’s Madanpur Khadar on Wednesday night.

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Chief fire service officer A K Sharma said the number of fire incidents is likely to increase in the coming days. “A total of 105 fire incidents were reported in Delhi on Thursday between 12.45 am and 8 pm,” he said.

There are about 265 fire tenders available with the Fire Department.

According to officials at the Weather department, Delhi reeled under severe hot and dry conditions on Thursday.
Maximum temperature settled at 43.7 degree Celsius, the highest this season so far. “On Thursday at 6 am, they recorded the temperature at 30 degree C which sharply increased to 41 degree C by 2 pm. At 4 pm, a high of over 43 degree Celsius was recorded,” officials said.

The Fire department had to use 17 tenders to put out the flames that killed the four horses. “The blaze was brought under control within three hours but nearly 170 huts were gutted. Four horses which were tied with metallic ropes also died in the blaze,” a fire officer said.

Police suspect the fire was caused by a short circuit.

In another incident, a 62-year-old man died after his third-floor apartment caught fire in North Delhi’s Civil Lines area.

“The incident was reported around 1.50 am. After some residents informed the Fire Department about the incident, four fire tenders were rushed to the spot. They took half an hour to douse the flames.

The charred body of one Narendra Singh Rawat was recovered from the spot.

He lived alone and worked as a servant in the three-storey house, the officer added.

Police said they suspect the blaze may have been triggered by a lit cigarette butt as the deceased was a smoker.

In the third incident, a woman, her four daughters and two sons were injured after their house in Narela caught fire.

“The fire started just as the woman lit a candle in the kitchen on Wednesday night. The neighbour who informed police and fire department helped in rescuing the people trapped in the house,” a police officer said, adding that the woman and her children were taken to a hospital. One of her sons, aged 11, was later sent to LNJP Hospital and is said to be to critical.

A cluster bus plying on route number 990 also caught fire while heading towards Shivaji Stadium in Central Delhi on Thursday afternoon.

At least fifteen people were sitting inside when its driver spotted smoke billowing from the engine.

He parked the bus and asked the commuters to get off. Two fire tenders took half an hour to completely put out the flames.

The fifth incident took place in North Delhi’s Tri Nagar area where a garment shop was gutted.