Summer blazes in U’khand: Fire incidents dropped in 2025 but casualties rose sharply
HASAN HADI /Dehradun
With the fire season starting from April 1, the Uttarakhand Fire and Emergency Services department is now gearing up to combat blazes. The senior Fire department officers said that they will try to bring down the number of fire incidents this year. Citing statistics, they said that the fire casualties in 2025 were 27 while 2,343 incidents of fire were recorded in the same year. In 2024, on the other hand, the casualty figure stood at eight while 2,455 fire incidents were reported. Dwelling on these figures, the senior Fire department officers said that while the number of blazes had been higher in 2024 than 2025 the casualties were much less (8) that year as compared to 27 in 2025. Notably, 17 fire casualties were reported in 2023.
In terms of financial loss, the damage was worth around Rs 27 crore in 2024, while it was about Rs 20 crore in 2025.
The Uttarakhand Fire and Emergency Services (UFES) nodal officer S K Rana, who is also the deputy superintendent of police, said that a high-level meeting regarding fire preparedness was held under the chairmanship of the senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dehradun Pramendra Dobal. All chief fire officers (CFOs) and fire officers (FOs) attended the meeting. During the meeting, necessary directions regarding fire safety were issued and are now being implemented across the district.
Rana said that manpower has been deployed at all fire stations according to requirement. Mock drills have also been conducted to check the efficiency of fire-fighting equipment at these stations and such drills will continue to be conducted from time to time.
He further said that the locations and working conditions of fire hydrants are being mapped, including their Google locations. The fire department is also working with junior engineers (JE) and assistant engineers (AE) to test hydrants and identify how many are functional and how many are not.
Rana added that water tanks are also being installed in fire vehicles so that there is no shortage of water for the fire fighters.
Plus, awareness campaigns are being carried out among the common people. The fire department is spreading awareness about possible blazes from LPG cylinders, transformer overloading and air conditioners. Awareness programmes are also being conducted in housing societies and rural areas to educate people about the fire safety processes.
Half-yearly inspection conducted at Selaqui fire station
DEHRADUN: A half-yearly inspection of the fire station in Selaqui was carried out on Monday by the superintendent of police (SP), Vikasnagar, Pankaj Gairola. During the visit, the officer checked the fire-fighting vehicles, equipment, disaster management resources and communication systems available at the station.
He also reviewed safety standards, staff attendance, training records and the emergency response system. The officials present were asked about the working and condition of the equipment, and proper maintenance was emphasised.
Gairola instructed all fire personnel to stay alert and be ready to respond quickly and effectively during any emergency. He stressed that regular checking and maintenance of equipment is important to handle sudden incidents.
He added that public safety should always be the top priority and all resources must be kept in proper working condition.
All officers and staff of the Selaqui fire station were present during the inspection.
