AHMEDABAD, Nov 11: With 66 cases of fire reported in the five days from November 7 to today afternoon, the festival of lights turned bleak for many in the city. One person died and four others received burn injuries in the mishaps, most of which occurred in the walled city and industrial areas.Fourteen shops on both sides of Bapunagar crossroads were gutted down when a live `rocket' fell on Reasonable Firecracker Shop on the evening of November 8. Bapunagar resident Ankitkumar Mistry, 18, died of serious burns at Shardaben Hospital, while four others are receiving treatment at Shardaben Hospital.The firecracker shops in the area were not licenced, sources pointed out. Firecracker vendors who sell the explosive material on the roads, compounded the fire, fire brigade sources said. Rockets flew from opposite sides of the road and the fire spread to other shops in the area, including a barber's shop. Ankit Kumar was sitting in the barber's shop when the fire broke out, and did not come out ``probably out of shock'' an official said.``Larris on either side of the road were engulfed in the fire as the rockets flew from both sides,'' Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone V) Sanjay Shrivastava said.``The major reason for fires has been people lighting fire crackers in the open, on the road. There is no one to stop them,'' said Chief Fire Officer D.A. Gadhvi. ``Moreover, there have been roadside vendors of crackers who encroach on footpaths, and increase the risk.''The maximum incidents, meanwhile, took place on November 7. There were 21 incidents on November 7, 15 on November 8, 20 on November 9, eight on November 10 and two calls of fire till Thursday evening, said Gadhvi. ``There has been an increase in the incidence of fires, with average calls to the brigade in normal days being eight to ten,'' admitted Gadhvi. There have been on average two to three incidents in Raipur, Naroda, Kalupur and Odhav areas.Almost all the 10 fire stations in the city had to usher their fire tenders on most of the five days, said Gadhvi. He, however, said that most of the incidents were minor in nature and no injuries have been reported from any incident apart from the one in Bapunagar. ``While some of the calls were of fires in shops others included fires in garbage dumps and on the road sides,'' said Gadhvi, adding that while lakhs of rupees of loss was expected, precise calculations would be hazarding a guess at this stage.The licences for fire cracker shops are given by the AMC health department with recommendation from the fire department. The larris carrying crackers are given licence by the traffic department.
