Fire mishaps decline in Tirupati

Tirupati: In the last two years, there was a decline in the number of fire accidents and fire calls. This has gladdened the officials of the Tirupati Fire Station, according to Fire Officer Ramanaiah. Officials of the fire station are planning to organise a 'Fire Service Week' from April 14 to 20 to create awareness among the public in preventing fire accidents with minimum precautions. Speaking to The Hans India. Ramanaiah said about 225 fire accidents occurred during 2011-12 calendar year and the incidents decreased to 178 during 2012-13 (till March 11, 2013). Out of the total 178 fire incidents that took place in 2012-13, three were catergorised as serious, in which the property loss was over Rs 25 lakh and 11 incidents were of medium category, where the property loss was estimated as below Rs 10 lakh, he stated. The remaining 152 incidents were normal and 12 were below the normal category, he added. Ramanaiah was confident of a further decline in the fire accidents in future due to significant rain fall in March, 2013, unlike in the past. Even there is no chance of forest fire this year as all the trees grew new leaves due to the recent rains, he added. "We are well prepared to face any eventuality and we got a new fire tender in our office recently and all the vacant posts were filled up," he said. The officials drafted a detailed plan of action to bring awareness among masses as well as students on fire mishaps that may arise due to electrical short circuits and cooking gas cylinders that are common in urban areas due to misunderstanding and lack of awareness, he explained. The Fire Officer said the awareness week observed last year had brought good results.