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Nagpur: Come summer and the firefighters remain on their toes, with sudden spurt in frequeny of calls reporting fire incidents which keep them constantly on the run.
This year, the month of April was not an exception as the fire brigade team of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had a harrowing time with the city reporting 212 cases of fire destroying properties collectively to the tune of Rs 2 crore. Looking at the incidents, Bhandara Road was on top of the list with fires breaking out at at Suruchi factory, wooden godown and a plastic factory, on the same stretch within a fortnight.
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24 April 2025
Interestingly, it is the same month when the firefighters observe April 14 as Fire Safety Day and a week from the date to pay tributes to those who have lost their lives while on duty and also to create awareness among the common people regarding safety needs, develop strategies for fire prevention, fire control rescue and rehabilitation and undertake a campaign for fire safety among all the sections of society, business and industry. To their achievement, the firefighter of NMC succeeded in saving property of over Rs 8 crore during the same period.
It may be noted that the city witnessed a total of 256 fire incidents during the same period last year, consisting of 158 small, 85 medium and 14 major incidents causing loss of properties to the tune of 47.29 lakhs. At the same time the fire fighters managed to save property worth Rs 3.24 crore.
Similarly, during the period between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, total 1192 incidents of fire were reported in the city limits with 754 small, 286 medium and 152 major fires gutting properties collectively worth Rs 34.38 crore. Here too the firefighters succeeded to save property worth Rs 1.76 crore.
Moreover, the Fire Department doused 47 fires outside the city limits, where loss of property worth Rs 12.44 lakh was reported and fire fighters managed to save properties over Rs 3 crore. However, while battling the nature’s one of the most devastating force a number of fire fighters sustained severe burns injuries.
Speaking with Nagpur Today, Chief Fire Officer, Rajendra Uchake informed about various causes, preventive and precautionary measures of fire outrage.
Causes
Short circuits, gas leakages, burning of garbage in open places and above all the ‘unknown’ category, which comprises fire due to rise in temperature, friction, human error etc, which result in spontaneous fire, the CFO informed, adding “We have to also look into the factors like insurance cover of a particular property or a business, jealousy due to growth in one’s business, etc. when it comes to causes fire incidents.”
Precautions and preventive measures
“Fire-NOC is the one of the key aspects, when it comes to precaution and preventive measures of a fire breakout. Statistics indicate that every year, thousands of people are killed across the world in fire related incidents,” said Uchake.
“Moreover, every year, property and goods worth crore of rupees are destroyed. The implications of fire in buildings can be serious and many companies do not recover after the mishap. Therefore, it is important to secure Fire NOC to ensure safety of not only of an individual but also of a business,” he stressed.
Beside Fire-NOC, regular check-up and maintenance of electric supply lines is also important. Attention to kitchens or cooking gadgets in the premises is also necessary, said Uchke. Proper handling and disposing of dry waste also plays a significant role in avoiding fire outrage, he added.
By Shubham Nagdeve
