In 2 days, 3 fire incidents reported in Ridge areas

New Delhi: The forest department has written to all ridge owning agencies to keep vigil after three incidents of fire were reported in two days in Delhi's Ridge areas.
Two separate fires broke out in Delhi's upper Ridge area near the Talkatora Stadium on Monday night, while another took place in the Kamla Nehru Ridge on Sunday. Officials are taking precautionary steps to ensure that no major fire is caused after these incidents."We are a little concerned that this has happened twice recently and we are making sure that a major fire doesn't take place as then it will be difficult to control," said a forest official.
The cause of the fires is yet to be determined, but officials say they may have been caused due to careless smokers or people burning leaves in the area.
Fire officials say they were informed about the fire on Monday night when they got a PCR call at 8:45 pm. "We got a call and seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot immediately. We got the fire under control within a couple of hours but dry shrubs and low lying trees made it difficult as the fire had begun to spread. The undergrowth of a lot of trees has been damaged," said a fire official.
Forest officials also believe rising temperatures will cause more problems if such fires are not detected on time. "It is not uncommon to have fires during the summer as the heat accentuates it but it seems like these fires were caused by people. People may not realise it but leaving something lit or burning in these areas can often spread quickly in the heat," said an official.