166 emergency calls to Navi Mum, Panvel fire stations during Diwali

NAVI MUMBAI: Fire brigade teams across Navi Mumbai and Panvel responded to 166 emergency calls between November 6 and 9

NAVI MUMBAI: Fire brigade teams across Navi Mumbai and Panvel responded to 166 emergency calls between November 6 and 9. Most reported fire incidents were minor, with no casualties or injuries.

Navi Mumbai Fire Brigade attended 74 calls across its five fire stations between November 8 and 9, Vashi recorded the highest number at 23, followed by Nerul with 19, Airoli with 13, Koparkhairane with 12 and CBD Belapur with seven. The stations also attended four rescue calls and one other emergency call.

Kharghar fire station recorded the highest number of calls at 41, including 32 fire calls, two firecracker-related incidents, one rescue call and six other calls. Ulwe recorded 18 calls: 13 fire calls, four firecracker-related incidents and one rescue call. Dronagiri attended four calls, including two fire calls, one firecracker-related incident and one other emergency.

CIDCO fire brigade received 63 calls across its Kharghar, Ulwe and Dronagiri fire stations between November 6 and 8. These included 47 fire calls, of which seven were specifically attributed to firecrackers, along with two rescue calls and seven other emergencies.

A Panvel fire brigade official said that classifying an incident as minor depends on the resources required to control it. “If a fire can be contained using a single fire engine, it is categorised as a minor incident. Our teams responded promptly and prevented the situations from escalating,” the official said.

One such incident was reported at Bhurasar Tower in Sector 12, Kamothe, where goods stored outside a shop at the rear of the building caught fire on Monday afternoon. Kamothe and Kalamboli fire personnel used a JCB to move the tin shed outside the shop and cleared the burnt material before extinguishing the blaze completely with water hoses.

Fire brigade officials said timely responses helped prevent the reported incidents from turning into major emergencies. They appealed to residents to exercise caution while bursting firecrackers, particularly near residential buildings, balconies, godowns and places where combustible materials are stored.