Fire Services Chief Face Off With KTR

Hyderabad:Director-General of fire services Y. Nagi Reddy on Monday stoutly refuted allegations that fire tenders deployed at the Gulzar Houz during Sunday’s fire-fighting operations lacked sufficient water or breathing apparatus. He termed the allegations misleading and false.

“I would accept if someone says water ran out during the operation—but not false claims that the tankers weren’t filled,” Nagi Reddy said.

Nagi Reddy said each fire tender carries 4,500 litres of water and each water tanker holds up to 9,000 litres.

The fire services DG said the department had documented evidence that all fire tenders were filled to capacity the night before. Filling the engines and tankers is a mandatory routine, and video evidence is available to confirm this, he said.

Eight breathing apparatus sets were deployed along with the firefighters.

Explaining the sequence of events, Nagi Reddy said that the Moghulpura fire station had received a distress call at 6.16 am on May 18, and fire tenders reached the site at Gulzar Houz by 6.20 am. The station was located just 1 km from the spot, he noted. The fire was brought under control within two hours.

The district fire officer arrived at the scene by 6.20 am. A total of eight fire tenders and three water tankers were deployed, according to a post on the X handle of FactCheck_Telangana, a factchecker of the state government.

The house that caught fire at Gulzar Houz was like a furnace tunnel — with only a single entry and exit point. Despite these extreme conditions, the fire was extinguished. The watchman and neighbours are witnesses to the effort, Nagi Reddy said.