A fire at a long-shut office in Sadar, near Nagpur Cyber Police Station, destroyed four rubber boats and other disaster-management equipment belonging to the Maharashtra Naval NCC Unit around 1am on Sunday, with a firecracker spark suspected to have triggered the blaze.
The fire reportedly began in bushes near the premises before spreading to plastic and rubber materials stored inside the building. Local resident Pratik Kul alerted the fire control room after noticing the flames.
Firefighters, including Dinesh Kalmegh, Prashant Bhanot, Kartik Parate, Hitesh Paunikar, Sachin Patil and Ajay Lokhande, battled the blaze for nearly two hours before bringing it under control. Paint containers, fire extinguishers and other equipment were also destroyed in the incident.
The exact value of the losses has not yet been assessed. The destroyed boats and equipment were associated with the Maharashtra Naval NCC Unit’s disaster-management activities, making the loss relevant beyond the premises where the fire occurred. The report did not specify whether the equipment was operationally deployed, undergoing storage or awaiting use.
The incident occurred amid a series of firecracker-related incidents reported across Nagpur during the Diwali period. On Saturday evening, fires broke out in garbage at six locations: Akashwani Square, near Rajwada Palace in Bajeria, Somalwada Square, Sonegaon Lake Square, near Rajput Hotel at Kamal Chowk and close to London Street in Jaitala.
Nagpur Municipal Corporation fire brigade teams responded to all six locations and extinguished the fires. No injuries were reported in those incidents. The reported pattern placed additional demands on the city’s fire-response system during a period when firecracker use can increase the risk of fires in waste, vegetation and other combustible material.
A separate vehicle fire on Hudkeshwar Road near Uday Nagar also required an emergency response on Sunday evening. The incident occurred around 5.45pm while car owner Anil Gijre was travelling with his wife and granddaughter from Ram Nagar to New Narsala. A passerby alerted the family after noticing flames emerging from the front of the moving vehicle, allowing the three occupants to escape.
The Sadar fire and the other incidents were reported without any injuries. The loss assessment for the NCC equipment remains pending, while the circumstances surrounding the suspected ignition in the bushes and the storage conditions at the long-shut office were not detailed in the available report.
