Hyderabad: Over 30 fire incidents during Diwali fete

Hyderabad: There were more than 30 fire accidents related to crackers in the city in the past two days. According to sources of fire department, on Saturday alone, the department received nearly 50 calls about fire incidents, of which 26 were related to cracker bursts in the city.

The calls were received from Kukatpally, Erragadda, Gode ki khabar, Begum Bazar, Shankar Lal Nagar, Lalaguda, Kishanbagh, Hussainialam, Parsigutta, Liberty, Basheerbagh, Moula Ali, Kushaiguda, Peerzadiguda, Barkatpura, Habeeb Nagar and Musheerabad

An official said, "We were clearly instructed by the higher officials that the number of incidents related to cracker bursts may rise and were told to be on standby for any call. Though there was an order from the High Court to not burst crackers, still many crackers were burnt."

However, no casualties were reported. But, the loss to properties was huge. Most incidents took place when crackers were burst near godowns or stores where old material such as plastics, wooden waste were stored. Also, from many sites, the rocket bombs leftovers recovered proves that the little sparks from them led to the huge flames, noted the officer.

Regional Fire Officer V Papaiah said that the fire department was well prepared in advance to respond to any kind of disaster. "Our advance preparedness helped us to avoid disasters. Only the KPBH incident was a huge one. The others were controlled in an hour or two.

Moreover, the fire-fighting officers were on their toes. We are lucky that no casualties were reported though the property losses were huge." he added.