Going to be an extended evening: firefighters brace for exigencies

When the Capital is illuminated with lights and households spend time collectively on Deepavali, firefighters on the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) face a stiff problem amid lengthy working hours, responding to fire-related emergencies.

It’s been over a decade since Nitin Lohchab, the DFS officer, spent Deepavali together with his household in Haryana. As a primary responder with the fireplace companies, Mr. Lohchab has spent the previous 11 years in his firefighting swimsuit, navigating via heavy visitors to achieve fireplace scenes and responding to cellphone calls from individuals on the evening of the competition of lights.

With the competition not far away, Mr Lohchab recalled that in his first yr at DFS, he couldn’t hold monitor of the day. “Hours had simply slipped away in selecting calls and navigating visitors,” Mr. Lohchab mentioned.

He predicted that the variety of fire-related cellphone calls might rise this yr after the Supreme Court lifted the blanket ban on the sale and buy of firecrackers. “”In earlier years, there was some degree of ban. But this yr, with inexperienced crackers being allowed, the sale of firecrackers has been rampant,” he mentioned.

Preparedness

“Over 2,700 individuals work around the clock on Deepavali, and this yr they are going to be accompanied by 255 firefighting items (automobiles) and 41 smaller automobiles as a part of the fast response automobiles,” Mr. Lohchab mentioned, including that the DFS has cancelled leaves for workers on the day of Deepavali.

“This yr, fireplace items have been deployed around the clock in 17 spots that embody Bara Tooti Chowk, Tilak Nagar, Lajpat Nagar Central Market, South Extension, Sonia Vihar, and so forth, and QVR automobiles in 24 spots like Paharganj, Sadar Bazar, Nangloi, Palam Gol Chakkar are amongst different areas,” he mentioned.

‘Bittersweet Deepavali’

Parvinder Kaur, 32, an officer working on the Connaught Place fireplace station for the previous six years, will spend one other Deepavali away from his household in Bahadurgarh, Uttar Pradesh. While he has gotten used to the rhythm of the day as town round him celebrates Deepavali, the celebration for him stays “bittersweet”.

“In 2024, we stepped out to douse a hearth within the Kashmere Gate space, and hours later, after we doused it, we needed to rush to Paharganj for an additional fireplace. By the time we have been completed with each these fires, the day had already passed by,” mentioned Mr Kaur. Last yr on the competition day, the DFS officer and his group returned to their station at 5 a.m. by the point the festivities have been subdued.

For Mr. Kaur and a number of other different DFS officers, the times main as much as Deepavali contain rigorous preparations. “We verify our personal tools, PPE fits and ship all our automobiles for upkeep, in order that we aren’t caught unprepared,” he added.

Early dinners

Another DFS officer, Surendra Rathore, mentioned that over the previous 4 years of engaged on Deepavali, it has at all times meant early dinners. “We hold telling our juniors that they will need to have their dinners early that day. Once you might be out with a automobile, your entire evening is gone,” mentioned the 39-year-old, including that whereas time administration is essential, navigating visitors on Deepavali evening is essentially the most arduous activity.

“We can management fireplace and stop huge losses if we are able to attain early, however the visitors is the most important problem,” he mentioned.