Delhi Fire Services receive highest number of calls in 24 hours in last 10 years

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received over 200 calls, including 183 fire-related, on Wednesday, the highest so far this year, officials said.

From January 1 to May 26, they received 8,912 fire-related calls, according to data shared by the DFS on Monday.

“We received 183 fire-related calls in 24 hours, ending at midnight on May 29,” DFS chief Atul Garg said. “This was the highest single-day call volume recorded so far this year.”

Also Read: Delhi sees over 138% spike in fire cases this month compared to May 2023

With the temperature soaring in the city and hovering near the 50-degree Celsius mark, Delhi is seeing a rise in fire-related incidents, claiming several lives.

According to the data, fires have taken 55 lives and injured more than 300 people in the national capital so far this year.

Sixteen people were killed in fire-related incidents in January, another 16 in February, 12 in March, four in April, and seven up to May 26, it said.

On May 26, a fire tragedy at Baby Care New Born Hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar area claimed the lives of six newborns and left five injured. Five oxygen cylinders exploded when a fire broke out at the neonatal hospital.

Sixteen cars were gutted by a fire on May 29 at a civic authority-run parking lot in east Delhi’s Madhu Vihar area. No one was injured in the incident.

The same day, five shops were damaged in a blaze in north Delhi’s Chandni Chowk.

On May 28, a fire broke out at a private eye hospital in Paschim Vihar. No one was injured in the incident as people were safely evacuated from the building.   (With inputs from PTI)