Even as you are reading this, it is possible that a building somewhere in the city is on fire.
According to sources in the Mumbai fire brigade, 4,013 incidents of fire have been reported in the city between April 2009 and January 2010. This works out to about 13 infernos a day.
The growing number of high-rises, coupled with haphazard development, and the lack of open space and ventilation, has ignited the city’s fire-risk index, they added.
In the past five years, the number of fire incidents has escalated by about 20%, said a fire official. For example, from April 2003 to March 2004, only 3,971 incidents were reported.
According to the sources, the incidents of fire in residential apartments have contributed to the rise. Also, the use of residential areas for illegal commercial installations that rarely meet the fire safety norms has led to the surge in the number of fire cases, the source said, adding that in about 80% cases, fire broke out because of short circuit.
The increase in the fire incidence rate has been proportional to the city’s vertical growth. Until 2006-07, the annual number of fire calls did not exceed 400, but in the past three years, it has consistently scaled 5,000.
The sources pointed out that al least 5,014 fire incidents were reported in 2008-09, and about 5,225 in the year before. A near-5,000 figure is expected to be reported in the current year too.
