There is no respite from increasing fire incidents in Ernakulam amidst the scorching weather.
As per official estimates by the Department of Fire and Rescue Services, fire stations in district received over 350 ‘fire calls’ between January 1 and February 20. The station at Club Road recorded the highest number of cases – 36. The number of fire incidents reported in other stations in this period include Gandhinagar (35); Angamaly (30); Thripunithura (28); Perumbavoor (27); Thrikkakara (26); Eloor (24); Mulanthuruthy (24); North Paravur (22); Mattancherry (19); Pattimattom (15); Piravom (13); Aluva (13); Koothattukulam (12); Kothamangalam (10); Kalloorkad (4); and Vypeen (3).
Majority of the calls were incidents that occurred following the practice of setting fire to waste. With the temperature rising, the blaze spread to nearby areas triggering panic in the affected area. Most of the cases of open burning of waste were reported from vacant plots or large parcels of uninhabited land both within the city and rural limits. A senior official of the department pointed out that fire calls recorded a spike amidst the scorching heat. There were over 1,000 calls to fire stations between January 1 and March 31 in 2023, according to official estimates.
