Gaya’s fire services department has stationed fire tenders at 21 vulnerable locations across the district and activated a festival emergency response plan for Diwali and Chhath, with six temporary control rooms, quick response teams and fire-bike patrols planned for crowded areas.
District fire officer Jyoti Prakash said the locations were identified using fire incident data from the past 10 years. The deployment is intended to reduce response time in areas where crowds, temporary firecracker sales and narrow lanes could make it difficult for conventional fire tenders to reach an incident quickly.
One temporary control room each will be established at Gandhi Maidan, Kalachakra Ground in Bodh Gaya and Gaya railway station, while three others will be set up at additional locations in the district. The Gandhi Maidan control room is being established because firecrackers are being sold there, according to Prakash.
Information about any incident will be sent immediately to the district control room, which will operate around the clock during the emergency arrangement. Additional fire tenders and rescue teams will be dispatched when required, Prakash said.
The district has 33 firefighting vehicles deployed across different subdivisions according to local requirements and vulnerability. Bodh Gaya has five fire tenders, while Sherghati has around eight, the district fire officer said. The deployment plan places the available vehicles closer to locations where emergency access and crowd density may affect response operations.
The department has also arranged two fire bikes for patrols in Gaya town. Each bike will carry two trained firefighters and compact equipment, including carbon dioxide and water-based extinguishers with a capacity of 10 to 12 litres. The bikes are intended to act as first responders in narrow lanes and densely populated areas, where larger vehicles may not be able to enter quickly.
The first-response arrangement will allow firefighters to tackle initial flames until larger fire tenders arrive, Prakash said. The plan places smaller, mobile units alongside the district’s existing vehicle network rather than relying only on full-size tenders for every emergency.
Fire officials are also inspecting firecracker shops operating under temporary licences issued by the district administration. The inspections are aimed at checking whether the shops comply with prescribed fire safety norms, according to Prakash. The report did not specify the number of shops inspected or identify any violations.
The emergency plan covers key public, transport and religiously significant locations, including Gandhi Maidan, Gaya railway station and Kalachakra Ground in Bodh Gaya. The district control room and temporary control rooms will coordinate incident information and the deployment of additional firefighting and rescue resources during the festival period.
