Delhi fire department gets 293 calls on Diwali

The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received 293 calls -- the highest in the past five years -- on Diwali Thursday, an official said Friday.

"This is the highest figure in the past five years. On Diwali, from midnight till 7 a.m. Oct 24, we received 293 calls of fire incidents from across the city," a fire official told IANS.

"Of these, 55 incidents were related to fire caused by crackers. But in most of the other cases, the reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained," the officer added.

The figure did not increase much post midnight Oct 23-24, and only 73 calls were received till Friday morning, the officer added.

The highest number of 37 calls were received between between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday.

While no major fire accident was reported in the city, two DFS officials received minor burn injures while trying to douse a fire in a shop in south Delhi area.

"None of the fire incidents caused any harm to the public at large, but left two of our officials with minor burn injuries while they were trying to douse a fire at a shop caused due to a cylinder gas blast in Okhla," another official told IANS.

The officer added both the fire fighters were taken to the Safdurjung Hospital where their condition was said to be out of danger.