Sixteen cars were gutted by a fire that broke out at a civic authority-run parking lot in east Delhi’s Madhu Vihar area on Wednesday. No one got injured in the incident that was reported at 1.17 am. Nine fire tenders were pressed into service and they controlled the blaze in four hours, an official from Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said. Police have registered a case and further investigation has been launched. In another incident, five shops were damaged in a fire that broke out in north Delhi’s Chandni Chowk area.

The cars belonged to the locals who used to park their vehicles in the parking lot on rent basis, the officials said. Earlier, the officials said that 17 cars were gutted but Madhu Vihar SHO Rajesh Sinha later confirmed that 16 vehicles were damaged in the fire.

“Some vehicles were damaged but we managed to save the rest. There were no injuries in the incident,” DFS officer Yashwant Meena said.

According to a police officer, it is suspected that the incident could be a result of some fire in the bushes in the area. A case is being registered and further probe is underway. “The parking facility is close to Delhi Jal Board office. Total 16 four wheeler vehicles which were parked in the parking lot, got damaged in the incident. Remaining vehicles were prevented from being damaged,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Apoorva Gupta said.

She further said that there is was no loss to the human. So far, the reason for the fire has not been established. “Crime team was called at the spot for inspection. An FIR has been registered under sections 285 and 336 of the IPC and investigation has been taken up,” said the DCP.

More than 100 cars were parked in the facility, but timely action by the police and fire department saved the rest of the vehicles, he said.

“Our teams acted promptly after the emergency call. Our priority was to save lives,” the officer said. The fire brigade team also reached the spot and quickly swung into action, he said. “While one tender started sprinkling water on the cars that did not catch fire, the other started dousing the flames.” MCD officials who inspected the site, observed that 17 cars were affected due to the fire incident that took place at night at around 01:10 am on 29.05.2024. No casualty of life or body has been reported.  The fire incident took place at the fag end of parking site which is close to a wide and deep drain.

“During the course of the inspection, prima facie it appeared that some passerby on the footpath may have thrown a bud of burning cigarette/bidi into the dry drain which caused fire in the dry leaves and foliage of the drain. Due to scorching heat, the fire reached the boundary of the parking site. As a consequence, fire engulfed the rear portion of a few vehicles which further spread causing damage to nearby vehicles”, the MCD said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor in a statement accused the Municipal Corporation of Delhi of negligence in the Madhu Vihar parking lot fire and said the incident occurred because the facility did not have basic firefighting equipment.