At least 600 incidents of fire have been reported in Gautam Buddh Nagar in just four months, but the public turnout for awareness campaigns and mock drills in residential societies across Noida and Greater Noida has been dismal, officials said. The Fire Service department has held more than 100 campaigns in these regions to educate people about safety equipment and preventive measures, but the attendance has “not even been 10 per cent” of the total number of residents, they said.
Private security personnel, too, “do not know much about fire safety” in several societies, they lamented. In 2022, 626 incidents of fire have been reported in Gautam Buddh Nagar from January till April end. There were 1,372 fire incidents in 2021, 1,246 in 2020, 1,729 in 2019 and 2,017 the preceding year, according to official data.
“Most of the fire incidents are reported in April and May. A majority of them are related to electricity issues at homes or commercial spaces, while burning of stubble, farm fires, blaze in bushes and dry leaves, etc., also contribute to bulk of the incidents,” Chief Fire Officer Arun Kumar Singh told PTI. Singh, a gallantry award-winning officer, said the Fire Service had conducted over 200 awareness campaigns and mock drills last year across residential societies, sectors, industrial and commercial areas of the district.
This year, over 100 such campaigns and drills have been carried out till May, he said, with the focus on preventive measures only increasing in the wake of a deadly blaze in adjoining Delhi’s Mundka area that claimed at least 27 lives. However, an official involved in awareness campaigns told PTI, “Fire Service officials have been to scores of high-rise societies in Noida and Greater Noida after duly informing them of arrival date and time, but the participation of residents has been very low. Not even 10 per cent of residents come for mock drills.” “In many societies, private security guards are sent to join the mock drills, which is fine but there have been several cases in which even these guards are clueless about using safety equipment,” claimed the official, who wished not to be named.
Urging people to join the ongoing mock drills, CFO Singh said, “People can learn how to use extinguishers installed in residential societies in order to be prepared for any emergency situation, should they occur. They can also learn other preventive measures and tips on how to respond to emergencies in case of a fire.” Singh noted that fires are caused due to “irresponsible” behaviour and stressed on ensuring preventive measures to keep such incidents at bay. Some prominent issues that lead to a fire are related to electricity. Hence, one must get the electrical wirings, sockets of their house checked for efficiency and load-bearing capacity, he said, adding gas cylinder knobs should be turned off when not in use. “People should keep the stairs free for emergency exit. Often, it is noticed that people keep flower pots or cycles, or other not-in-use appliances, etc on stairs which become an obstacle during evacuations. Some societies have the doors of terrace locked, which also becomes a hindrance during emergencies,” he noted.
Singh said his department will soon begin a survey to identify fire-prone areas in Noida and Greater Noida in order to lay special focus on awareness campaigns in such locations. He said there is no digital database of such locations at present and efforts are underway to have one soon.
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