26 fire incident reports in Hyderabad and RR district in last 24 hours

Hyderabad: Twenty-six fires were reported in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts in the last 24 hours. Most of the cases were due to electrical short circuits.

In the last 10 days the city has recorded around 100 fires due to the rise in temperatures. Even though full blast summer is yet to arrive the number of fire calls have increased, said assistant district fire officer B. Yelaiah.

According to fire department statistics from April 2016 to January 2017, 6,296 fires were reported. A significant number of fires were household fires and fires triggered by electrical short circuits.

But the number of fires have increased this month due to the early onset of summer and the negligence of people. Many fires were reported due to careless garbage burning and smoking, regional fire officer (RFO) V. Papaiah said. He added, "We conducted special drives in schools, colleges, hospitals and offices to educate people about the problems of excessive use of electrical equipments. Problem arises when people keep doors and windows shut. If there is a spark the entire area catches fire."

The best way to prevent fire is to avoid overloading electrical equipments and to turn off electrical devices after use. The most important thing is to keep windows and doors open and to turn off the main switch whenever a spark is seen, the RFO added.

SFO K. Shekhar Reddy said, “The number of fire calls have increased this month. Many of them are due to electrical short circuits in apartments, cars and buses. The recent case of a bus getting burnt near Aler was a clear example of short circuit due to heat. The fire department is on its toes during summers as the number of calls are very high.”