A spate of fire incidents are being reported on a daily basis, thanks to the scorching summer heat
A spate of fire incidents are being reported on a daily basis, thanks to the scorching summer heatSoaring temperatures in the city have brought along bush fires, set vehicles ablaze and led to short-circuits, which have kept the city firemen on their toes with as many as 10 fire incidents being reported each day.
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Aag hi aag: Srikanth who first reported the fire, which broke in Cubbon Park yesterday evening |
On Sunday, at 33 degrees, it seemed to be the turn of Cubbon Park. Had it not been for an NGO worker Srikanth's quick-witted response, one of the city's oldest gardens would have gone up in flames.
Grove in flames
At around 6.30 pm, the part of the park that has a bamboo grove was engulfed in flames. Srikanth, who was leaving the park after work, noticed the flames and called 108. The fire tenders arrived within 10 minutes from High Ground Fire Station and doused the fire by 7.10 pm. "There was no property loss and nobody got injured," said Srikanth.
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The fire tenders arrived within 10 minutes from High Ground Fire Station and doused the fire by 7.10 pm. Pics/Vinod Kumar T |
Beedis to blame?
Prakash, leading fireman, High Ground Fire Station said, "Sunday being a holiday, somebody could have thrown a beedi or cigarette bud on the dried leaves." He also cited the friction of bamboo trees as another cause of the fire.
On February 14, the temperature recorded in the city was 33.5 degrees celcius.
Officials in the MET department said that this was the second highest temperature recorded in the city I the past 30 years in the month of February.
They also pointed out that the regular temperature was four degree higher than normal.
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| Cubbon garden at 33 Degrees Celcius |
Cubbon Park was laid out in 1864 by Richard Sankey, the chief engineer of Mysore.u00a0 It extends over an area of 334 acre andu00a0 is liberally dotted with statues like that of the 19th Century ruler Chamarajendra Wodeyar (1868-94) over looking the pond near an octagonal, cast-iron bandstand.
There are also marble statues of Queen Victoria and Edward VII. In the middle of the park, a red coloured neoclassical building known as the Sheshadri Iyer Memorial Houses a Public Library.
The landscape in the park creatively integrates natural rock outcrops with thickets of trees, massive bamboos, with grassy expanse and flower beds and also monuments within its limits, regulated by the Horticulture Department of the Government of Karnataka. |
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