Hyderabad: In case of a fire during bursting of crackers and the clothes catch fire, the victim should adopt the ‘stop, drop and roll’ procedure to extinguish it. This is among the tips that officials of the officials of Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services (SDR & FS) department gave out on Monday, ahead of Diwali.
They asked people firing crackers to keep a first-aid kit and eye drops along with blankets and water at hand. If the clothes catch fire, extinguish the fire by putting a blanket on the fire or pour water and roll, which is the 'stop, drop and roll' procedure.
“In case of smoke or fire, the public is requested to inform the fire department by calling ‘101’ or ‘9949991101’. The employees of disaster response and fire department would be available to attend emergencies on Diwali day,” said SDR Director General M. Gopi Krishna.
Speaking to mediapersons, the DG asked people to purchase firecrackers from licensed traders. "There are 4, 258 licensed traders in the state among whom 946 are in Hyderabad and 1,436 are in Ranga Reddy district."
He said the Supreme Court had issued guidelines to burst crackers and the public has to adhere to them. The reference was mainly to the time to burst crackers — 8 pm to 10 pm — set by the Supreme Court.
He said that in the last two years, there were no major incidents of fire during Diwali celebrations due to the awareness among the public in following the fire safety precautions.
