Noida dumpsite fire rages for fourth day, 150 firefighters on scene

A fire broke out in a plot of land in District 32

Noida:

A blaze at a dumpsite in Noida continued for the fourth day on Thursday, even as 150 personnel of the fire department continued to work around the clock to douse it completely, officials said.

As many as 15 fire engines were deployed to the scene and an estimated 3.5 million liters of water were used to control the blaze, which by Thursday evening had been contained to less than 15% of the area and was expected to be completely extinguished. a senior official said on Friday.

The fire broke out on a plot in Sector 32, which is being used as a dumping ground for the horticulture department of the Noida Authority to store pruned trees.

According to authorities officials, the site was also filled with dry leaves and twigs and some unidentified miscreants allegedly lit the fire around 6 pm on Monday, the day of Holi.

On May 18 last year, a fire broke out at the same location and took nearly six days to put out completely.

Noida chief fire officer Pradeep Kumar Choubey said that as of Thursday evening, 150 firefighters have been deployed at the site with the help of 15 water tankers to try to completely douse the outbreak at the site measuring 2 km x 1.5 km. of flame.

“Nearly 85 per cent of the fire has been put out and the fire has now been contained to less than 15 per cent. Most of the fire is just smoke now. We are confident of extinguishing it by tomorrow,” Chobe told PTI.

The chief financial officer overseeing operations at the scene said firefighting operations were ongoing around the clock.

“We have 15 water trucks. Six of them have a capacity of 12,000 liters and the rest have a capacity of 5,000 liters. These fire trucks have refilled water an average of 40 to 50 times since the fire broke out,” said Chobe.

He said seven layers of “isolation” (also known as “fire lines” or “fire breaks”) were set up at the site to prevent the fire from spreading further, which affected the air quality in nearby areas. The same goes for cities.

Jobe said isolation measures have been established to curb the spread of wildfires by digging trenches or channels in the ground with the help of bulldozers and hand tools.

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