On the 14th of January 2024, a huge pile of leaves along with some mixed garbage, lying just inside of the gate to the B Block Park, caught fire. Some miscreants were drinking in the park and carelessly tossed a matchstick onto the dry leaves. Fortunately, there was no loss of life or damage to property. The flames were extinguished using buckets of water.
However, the following evening at around 5 pm, when I went to the park for my constitutional walk, I could see smoke billowing out from different points in the horticulture heap. I called Dinesh Kumar who sent Arjun and Aakash from the SCRWA Office and along with Yogesh Manchanda (B 69), we set out to try and douse the fire which was smouldering deep within the pile. With a thin stream of water flowing against gravity, we were unsuccessful despite the fire within each of us to get things under control. Finally, we called the Fire Brigade and were pleasantly surprised to see them arrive at 6.18 pm, within about ten minutes of the telephone call. By 7 pm the fire was completely put out and we could not see even a whiff of smoke. Our grossly challenged lungs breathed a sigh of relief as we headed back to the cocoons of our warm existence.
Thereafter, finally, the MCG started clearing the half-burnt mound of leaves and trash.
