GUNTUR: Fire department officials are making arrangements to conduct various awareness programmes to prevent fire accidents during the summer. As the number of mishaps increases during summer, people should be on alert to prevent them, fire staff said. As many as 1,159 fire mishaps were reported in 2021-22, including seven big mishaps with over Rs 10 lakh property loss, 40 accidents with a property loss of Rs 10 to Rs 2 lakh, and 1,112 mishaps with less than Rs 2 lakh loss. Four people were killed and a total of Rs 18.42 crore worth of property was destroyed in these accidents.
Most of the accidents were reported due to electric short circuits, burning of agricultural wastes unscientifically, and domestic gas leaks. There were 14 fire stations present in the undivided Guntur district. Proposals have been sent to set up new stations in Amravathi, Vemuru, Prathipadu, and Gurazala regions. According to the fire department officials, though there is a shortage of staff, the latest equipment, including a 16,000-litre capacity water truck, and rescue tenders are available and ladder vehicles will be available soon.
Due to several awareness programmes conducted, earlier, the number of gas leakage accidents has decreased in the recent years, the number of fire mishaps decreased in the last couple of years as 1,328 mishaps were reported in 2019-20 with property loss worth Rs 50 crore, which decreased further in 2020-21 with 1,028 fire accidents and loss worth Rs 39 crore and zero casualties.
“Though many people, institutes and commercial establishments have set up fire safety equipment, they are not aware of how to use it when needed. We will educate people on how to use equipment efficiently. People should also be alert about short circuits, and take certain precautions to prevent fire mishaps. Many follow wrong steps, which sometimes makes the situation worse. People should be aware of the steps to be taken while trying to put off the fire and inform the nearby fire station as early as possible,” they added.