DFS received 24 fire-related calls on Diwali

The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received 24 fire-related calls during the 12-hour period from 6pm on November 8 and 6am on November 9, nearly the same number of calls recorded during the corresponding peak hours last year, according to official data

The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received 24 fire-related calls during the 12-hour period from 6pm on November 8 and 6am on November 9, nearly the same number of calls recorded during the corresponding peak hours last year, according to official data.

18 of these calls came between 8pm and midnight (Sakib Ali / HT)

18 of these calls came between 8pm and midnight, underlining the concentration of fire emergencies during the peak Diwali celebrations.

Last year, 22 fire-related calls were received in the same period.

In the 12-hour window, the DFS received a total of 281 emergency calls, including bird and animal rescue, fewer than the 283 from 2025. Of these, 178 came between 6pm and midnight, while another 103 were received between midnight and 6am.

The highest number of calls came between 8pm and 10pm, when the fire services received 85 calls, of which 84 were related to fires. The department also received eight calls concerning cracker-related fires during this two-hour period, they said.

The comparative figures show that the peak-hour emergency workload has seen little change, after witnessing a sharp rise in 2024, when DFS received 320 calls during the corresponding 12-hour period. The figure stood at 195 in 2023, 172 in 2022 and 115 in 2021. In 2020, the department recorded 183 calls, while in 2019, it received 214.

Among the significant incidents was a medium-category fire reported at 5.25pm at two adjacent factories on Samshan Ghat Wali Road in Nangli Sakrawati. A major-category fire was reported at 8.50pm at a factory in Narela Industrial Area, followed by another at an NDMC godown beneath the Safdarjung flyover at 9.32pm.

The department also reported fires at a banquet hall in Pooth Kalan, a house in Saraswati Apartment in IP Extension, New Krishna School in Karawal Nagar and a shop in Chhota Bazar, Shahdara, between midnight and 3am.

The year-on-year data on total calls on Diwali, meanwhile, shows 257 calls in 2026, compared with 269 in 2025 and 318 in 2024. This year’s figure is the lowest since 2023, when 208 calls were recorded, and considerably below the 290 calls reported in 2015 and 271 in 2018.

The figures suggest that while the overall number of Diwali emergency calls has declined from the 2024 peak, the concentration of emergencies during the night continues to remain high.