Diwali night fires hit Bhiwandi, Nagpur, Mumbai and Virar; no deaths reported

Fires broke out in several Maharashtra cities on Sunday night, during Lakshmi Puja on Diwali. Some were caused by firecrackers and some by short circuits, and the financial loss is said to be considerable.

Bhiwandi reported five fires within 24 hours. Some were caused by firecrackers, one by a diya in a shop and another by a short circuit. In the afternoon, a scrap warehouse caught fire in Sonale. After midnight, a firecracker set a bat factory on fire in the Oswalwadi area of Kamatghar. At night, five rooms of a chawl were gutted in the Gauripada area. In Ganesh Nagar, Kamatghar, a diya kept in a shop set a bag shop on fire. The fifth incident was in the Kapaali area.

In Kapaali, a sudden short circuit started a fire that burned six shops. They included a cooler seller's shop, an LED decoration light shop, a gulab jamun shop, a footwear shop and a clothes shop. One fire engine reached the spot first. When it could not put out the fire, two more were called. The three engines brought the fire under control in two hours, but goods worth lakhs of rupees in the six shops had already burned.

Nagpur had two major fires on Diwali night. In the Medical Chowk area, a fire broke out on the upper floor of a building, causing panic. Ankush Kirana Stores is on the ground floor, and the fire started on the floor above it. People were alarmed by the sounds of small explosions coming one after another from upstairs. A fire brigade team arrived during the night and brought the fire under control.

The second incident was in Savarkarnagar near Dev Nagar Chowk, where a fire broke out at the Sai Dynamics TVS showroom. The initial assessment is that it was caused by fireworks. According to the information available, a firecracker that went up in the air first fell on the shed above, and the fire later spread into the building. Some vehicles were kept in the showroom, so some of them may have burned.

In Mumbai's Dongri area, a fire broke out at about 9.30 pm on Sunday in a garage in front of Dongri police station. It kept growing and 10 to 12 shops were burned. Six fire engines and five municipal corporation vehicles reached the spot. Police, municipal staff and firefighters immediately evacuated three residential buildings near the garage and also switched off the power. For this reason no lives were lost, but the financial damage was heavy. About two hours later, the fire was still intensifying. According to local residents, the fire kept spreading because of oil and tyre shops in the area, and a lot of smoke rose. The fire brigade declared it a Level 2 fire.

Also in Mumbai, a fire broke out at about 11 pm in the Skyline Vihar building adjoining Vidyavihar railway station. It began on the topmost floors and spread down one floor at a time, turning fierce within an hour. The fire brigade arrived about an hour later, and efforts to control the fire continued through the night. Because it was a Sunday holiday, it is unlikely that anyone was in the commercial building. Three full floors were burned. The cause of the fire has not emerged.

In Virar West, a severe fire broke out at about 10 pm on Sunday in a first-floor flat of a residential building in the HDIL Complex. Within a short time the flames reached the upper floors. A fire brigade team of the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation reached the spot and put out the fire. No one was in the house when the fire started, so major casualties were averted. The initial assessment is that diyas in the house caused the fire; the exact cause will be clear after an inquiry.