Nashik’s fire department received at least 50 calls linked to firecracker incidents during Laxmi Puja on Sunday, with firefighters responding across the city as rockets and other fireworks ignited grass, trees, garbage heaps, old wadas and other materials. No injuries were reported, and most incidents were described as minor.
The city’s five fire stations remained on alert from Sunday morning as fire crews moved from one emergency call to another. Fire officials said the scale of a blaze could not be assessed from a telephone call alone, requiring a fire tender to be sent to each reported location and additional tenders to be deployed when necessary.
Leading fireman S R Jadhav of the Satpur fire brigade centre said crews had been responding continuously as reports came in. The incidents occurred in different parts of Nashik as residents burst firecrackers through the day and late into the night during Diwali celebrations.
According to fire officials, rockets, sky shots and other fireworks started fires in open plots, old wadas, trees, garbage heaps and other combustible material. They said the scale of firecracker use across the city had led the department to expect more calls than usual during Laxmi Puja.
Most of the incidents were minor, officials said, although two or three locations required greater attention. Residents travelling home or elsewhere in the evening also reported feeling unsafe as firecrackers were burst on streets and rockets were launched in ways that created risks for passing people and nearby properties.
The Panchavati and Cidco fire stations, the Nashik Road station and the fire brigade headquarters were kept on alert along with the Satpur centre. Fire officials said the department’s response continued through the period of heightened firecracker activity, with crews being dispatched to reported incidents across the city.
