Even as City grows, fire accidents go down

The City may continue to grow, but paradoxically, the number of fire accidents have reduced across the years, according to recent figures released by State Fire and Emergency Department.

In 2010, the department received 12,866 fire calls, followed by 19,220 calls in 2011 and 18,464 calls in 2012. In 2013, however, in what is a noteworthy development, the department received only 13,324 calls — up to the month of October.

According to department officials, this is a good sign. “This means that people are becoming aware of the issue of fire safety and are taking precautions,” a source said.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, a fire department official, added that the trend was a positive development.

“The population in Bangalore numbers nearly a crore. The number of industries and apartments are increasing, the use of chemicals and synthetic materials in industries are increasing and the construction of high-rise buildings are also increasing,” he said. “Looking at this, the number of reported cases are remarkably small.”

Certainly, the fire department attributes the reduced calls to its history of conducting drills and demonstrations at commercial and educational institutions, busy market areas and other locations.

This year alone, 1,187 demonstrations and over 300 mock drills were conducted. The numbers were higher in previous years, with 1,477 drills and 2,230 demonstrations and lecturers being conducted in 2010, followed by 964 drills and 1,932 demonstrations in 2011.

He added that the department now aims to pay more attention to City outskirts and new areas to create more awareness.