Chaos prevails as fire truck that reaches Indrakeeladri to douse flames, loses control and rams into railings

Fire tender loses control on Indrakeeladri hill, narrowly avoiding disaster; no casualties reported, fire extinguished by two tenders.

Tension prevailed when a fire broke out atop Indrakeeladri near the ‘Om’ turn on Sunday. One of the fire tenders that reached the spot to douse the flames lost control and rammed into the railings on the hill. However, no casualties were reported.

One Town Circle Inspector (CI), D. Shekar Reddy, who reached the spot, said that fire caught as the devotees threw the a lit ‘harati’ into the garbage.

“Around 2 p.m. we received the fire alert from the staff of Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam stating that fire caught in the bushes on the hill. Two fire tenders were rushed to Indrakeeladri and the fire was extinguished,” said Additional District Fire Officer (ADFO), K. Vinay, who monitored the operation.

“Driver of a fire tender lost control, and the vehicle halted after hitting the iron railings erected around the hill,” Mr. Vinay told The Hindu.

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“The presence of mind of the fire tender driver averted a major accident,” Mr. Shekar Reddy said.

Meanwhile, the devotees who saw the fire tender hitting the railings ran helter-skelter, and a woman among them fell and suffered minor bruises.