Two ministers of the Gujarat government, Jitu Vaghani and Praful Pansheriya, made emergency calls to the fire department after fires broke out in their housing societies on Diwali, 8 November, evening. No damage was caused to either minister's home in the fires, The Indian Express reported. Across the state, fire services dealt with hundreds of Diwali fires, including an oil mill blaze near Dholka that had been burning for almost 60 hours by Monday afternoon.
Fire at minister's Bhavnagar society
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Jitu Vaghani, who was celebrating Diwali in his hometown Bhavnagar, dialled 100 after the home of a neighbour in his society caught fire. The Bhavnagar fire broke out around 9.30 pm at Iscon Mega City, located behind Himalaya Mall and adjoining State Highway 52 near Bortalav Lake, where Vaghani has his residence. Pradyumansinh Jadeja, Chief Fire Officer of the Bhavnagar Fire and Emergency Services, told The Indian Express that the blaze was in a ninth floor apartment in one of the buildings in the society, and was likely caused by an electrical short circuit, even though investigations were still ongoing. The fire enveloped the living room of the apartment and destroyed several electrical appliances and furniture before it was successfully controlled by firefighters.
Eight rescued in Surat highrise, including a 100-year-old woman
In Surat, a 100-year-old woman was among eight people who were rescued after a fire broke out in a 13-storey residential building in which Health Minister Praful Pansheriya has a home. The minister and his family were not present in their first-floor flat in the building at the time, but he was among the people who called the fire department. The fire and emergency services received a call about a fire on the twelfth floor of the highrise River View Heights in Mota Varachha. A total of 15 fire tenders from eight fire stations battled the flames that damaged six flats in the building. The fire started in a locked flat, the residents of which had gone to their native place in Saurashtra. Flames and smoke were seen in the windows and the balcony of the flat. The fire and smoke spread to neighbouring flats and the passage, as a result of which the inmates of the other five flats could not come out. Firefighters used a hydraulic platform to rescue four residents who were trapped on the eleventh floor and another four on the twelfth floor, including the 100-year-old woman. Surat Chief Fire Officer Basant Pareek told The Indian Express that the minister had called him about the fire, and that the fire was brought under control after two and a half hours. Pareek said the fire department had received more than 150 emergency calls in 12 hours on Sunday, and that 350 firemen in 29 fire stations were on duty all day.
Oil mill in Dholka burning for almost 60 hours
The Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services said on Monday, 9 November, that they had attended 136 fire calls in the 24 hours from 6 am on 8 November. The biggest fire was at an oil mill in Dholka on the city's outskirts that had been burning since before dawn on Saturday, 7 November. This fire at the premises of Tiwana Oil Mills Private Limited in Kalyangadh village of Bavla taluka started at 3.30 am on 7 November, and was still burning in the afternoon of 9 November. The premises were filled with cornseed powder, and firefighters were continuously spraying the burning warehouse, but were facing difficulties due to the collapse of the structure and the highly inflammable product burning under it. The operations are being helmed by Regional Fire Officer Pravin Saraswat of Ahmedabad Region of the Gujarat State Fire Prevention Services, who confirmed that the entire warehouse was aflame. Hardipsinh, the Sub-Officer of Dholka Fire Department, said the cornseed powder, which is used to make cattle feed, is burning, the roof of the shed has collapsed and the material is burning underneath it, and bulldozers are being used to clear the debris so that the water can permeate down into the burning material. Four shops and two godowns in Ahmedabad also reported fires on Diwali day. Eighteen fires were reported in residential properties. At least eight trees and six vehicles caught fire. Chief Fire Officer Mithun Mistry said 120 of the 136 calls attended by the fire department on Diwali were due to firecrackers.
Fires across Vadodara and Rajkot
A fire in a residential flat in a high-rise building on Vasna-Bhayli Road in Vadodara destroyed household belongings worth lakhs of rupees. Personnel from the Vasna fire station tried to retrieve cash from a damaged locker, but several bundles of currency notes were found destroyed. No casualties were reported. In another incident, shanties occupied by daily-wage workers near Reliance Mall on Old Padra Road caught fire possibly due to a firecracker, triggering panic in the area. A third incident occurred near Tarsali Lake, where a car caught fire after sparks from a firecracker rocket fell on the moving vehicle. No one was injured. Overall, the Vadodara city fire brigade received 62 fire-related calls between 10 pm and 7 am. At SSG Hospital, eight people were brought in with burn injuries caused by firecrackers during the 24-hour period. Resident Medical Officer Dr Hitendra Chauhan said most cases reported minor burns on their hands and faces, and that all patients were treated and discharged, with no serious injuries reported. The hospital also recorded 40 road accident cases during the same period, with one resulting in a fatality. In Rajkot, two fires were reported at the old airport in the centre of the city on Diwali night. The fires, which started in the dry grass, could not be controlled by the in-house fire service, and the Rajkot Fire and Emergency Services had to send three vehicles to assist. In all, the Rajkot Fire Department dealt with 219 fires in the last three days, of which 179 incidents took place on Diwali night. A major fire was still raging at a PVC pipes manufacturing facility in Sokhada village on the outskirts of Rajkot city on Monday afternoon. The fire reportedly started after 6 pm on 8 November, and firefighters were continuing to battle it after more than 18 hours had passed.
