New Delhi: Around 500 people were rendered homeless after nearly 130 shanties were gutted in a major fire at a slum cluster in Shahbad Dairy. Delhi Fire Service officials said no casualties or injuries took place and the rescue operation went on for 6 hours.
The officials said they received a call around 10 pm on Sunday about the fire which broke out in Shahbad Village. “A total of 15 fire tenders were rushed to the site. After the blaze situation came under control, a cooling operation was initiated,” said DFS director Atul Garg.
A viral video on social media shows the entire area engulfed in flames. Panic ensued in the area where all the residents ran to save their lives while attempting to salvage their possessions.
Officials claimed that some local residents also climbed atop the fire tenders, which affected the operation. “While some of them were curious onlookers, a few others were asking firemen to put out the blaze in their shanties first. It was tough handling the crowd on the spot. Luckily, everyone was evacuated safely,” a fire official said.
The operation was led by additional division officer Ajay Kumar Sharma.
An official elaborated on the constraints posed by the narrow, one-lane streets in the village. “To mitigate this issue, a strategic approach was devised, involving the laying out of water supply pipes from a main road situated approximately 1 kilometre away, facilitating efficient replenishment of fire tenders and enabling effective control of the blaze”.
The official said the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained. “The area had highly combustible items. Slum residents were found storing huge quantities of waste items, including plastic bottles, near their temporary structures. Even an electrical spark or somebody leaving a burning object near such items can easily trigger major fires,” the official said.
At least 11 people, including the factory owner and 10 workers, died and four others were injured in a fire that broke out in a paint factory in outer Delhi’s Alipur on Thursday evening.
Last year in May, 15 shanties were destroyed after a fire broke out in a slum in northeast Delhi’s Shastri Park. No injury was reported in the incident.
The officials said they received a call around 10 pm on Sunday about the fire which broke out in Shahbad Village. “A total of 15 fire tenders were rushed to the site. After the blaze situation came under control, a cooling operation was initiated,” said DFS director Atul Garg.
A viral video on social media shows the entire area engulfed in flames. Panic ensued in the area where all the residents ran to save their lives while attempting to salvage their possessions.
Officials claimed that some local residents also climbed atop the fire tenders, which affected the operation. “While some of them were curious onlookers, a few others were asking firemen to put out the blaze in their shanties first. It was tough handling the crowd on the spot. Luckily, everyone was evacuated safely,” a fire official said.
The operation was led by additional division officer Ajay Kumar Sharma.
An official elaborated on the constraints posed by the narrow, one-lane streets in the village. “To mitigate this issue, a strategic approach was devised, involving the laying out of water supply pipes from a main road situated approximately 1 kilometre away, facilitating efficient replenishment of fire tenders and enabling effective control of the blaze”.
The official said the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained. “The area had highly combustible items. Slum residents were found storing huge quantities of waste items, including plastic bottles, near their temporary structures. Even an electrical spark or somebody leaving a burning object near such items can easily trigger major fires,” the official said.
At least 11 people, including the factory owner and 10 workers, died and four others were injured in a fire that broke out in a paint factory in outer Delhi’s Alipur on Thursday evening.
Last year in May, 15 shanties were destroyed after a fire broke out in a slum in northeast Delhi’s Shastri Park. No injury was reported in the incident.
