20160218 Nepal Fire incidents on rise as mercury soars
Nepal Feb 17 2016 “Automobile & Railway”
Dead : --- Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire incidents on rise as mercury soars
Updated: 2016-02-18 01:07
The number of fire outbreaks being reported in the Kathmandu Valley is on the rise as the mercury soars.
The Valley recorded three incidents of fire in the past 24 hours ending at 6:00 am today. As many as four buses were partially damaged when an engineering workshop caught fire in Pepsicola.
The workshop caught fire when the conductor of a bus (Na 5 Kha 1512) lit a candle to repair his vehicle. Later, the fire spread to two other parked vehicles (Na 5 Kha 5428 and Na 4 Kha 5255) and two brand new buses which were being assembled.
In another case, a carton factory in Bouddha caught fire gutting property worth Rs 10 million. Emporium Packaging operated by Sanjay Agrawal had caught fire due to short-circuit yesterday.
Ready-made cartons, raw materials, seven machines and a hut were destroyed in the fire, said police.
Meanwhile, short-circuit sparked fire in the house of Chandrakala Chauhan in Gairigaun, Tokha Municipality-15 and destroyed valuables worth Rs 200,000.
At least 172 cases of fire outbreaks have been reported so far this fiscal year in the Valley. The number of fire incidents nearly double during the dry season.
Short-circuit, overheating of electronic equipment, fluctuating voltage and electric spark after a sudden resumption of power supply following load-shedding, poor handling of burning lamps and cooking gas leakage are the prime reasons for fire outbreaks, said the Metropolitan Police Office.
On an average, this summer, MPO or Juddha Barun Yantra is getting two calls a day to respond to fire incidents. Many more cases go unreported as people themselves extinguish small fires before they spread.
According to statistics maintained by the MPO, 18 persons were killed and four others injured in the fire outbreaks so far this fiscal year.
Web Source: The Himalayan Times
http://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/fire-incidents-on-rise-as-mercury-soars/