The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) experienced a surge in fire-related calls this Diwali with more than 318 such incidents reported across the city, an increase of 53 percent as compared to the previous year. This was the highest number of calls since 2012. According to officials, the increase is attributed to the extensive use of firecrackers.

According to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital, a total of 48 emergency burn patients were admitted in the hospital including 11 in the ‘ver critical’ category. A total of 19 such patients were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with three being less than the age of 10, 11 between the age of 10 to 25, three between 25 to 60 and two above the age of 60.

A data reveals 27 patients were admitted with major burns while 32 such burns were resultants of firecrackers, six were due to other Diwali fire related burns in AIIMS hospital. Among those admitted, 35 were from within Delhi and eight from the NCR including five from Gurugram.

In the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, 44 patients with burn injuries related to Diwali including 38 males and six females.

 "The figure marks the highest number of Diwali-related fire and emergency incidents in the past 13 years," DFS chief Atul Garg said. "This year, we received 318 fire-related calls. The number is the highest in the last 13 years. "We were also fully prepared to tackle any and every situation with deployment of all the fire units and officials. We cancelled all the leaves and were ready to help everyone across the city," Garg said.

He said at least 78 calls regarding fire incidents were received between 4 pm and 9 pm. He said the peak time of such calls this year was 6 pm to 11.59 pm, when the DFS received 176 fire-related calls, and from 12 am to 6 am, when received 144 calls.

Seven people were injured in various fire incidents: four in a house fire in Gulshan Chowk, Anand Parbat; one in Vikaspuri; and two in a bus fire near Chhawla. Three floors of a residential building in Kalkaji caught fire and eight fire tenders were deployed to douse the blaze. An official said no casualties have been reported but all domestic articles were destroyed in the fire.

There were at least three serious fire incidents of “Make 4” category that were received from Kalkaji in south Delhi, Nirman Vihar in east Delhi, and Mangolpuri in outer Delhi while three others

The DFS, which had ramped up its readiness for the festival by deploying fire engines and personnel across the city, reported that most calls were received between 5 pm on October 31 and 5 am on November 1.

 According to the data shared by the DFS, they had received 206 fire-related calls in 2011, 184 in 2012, 177 in 2013, 211 in 2014, 290 in 2015, 243 in 2016, 204 in 2017, 271 in 2018, 245 in 2019, 205 in 2020, 152 in 2021, 201 in 2022 and 208 in 2023.

"Last year during the same time, we had received 195 fire-related calls," he added. The relentless bursting of firecrackers through the night blanketed Delhi in dense smoke, causing severe noise pollution and reducing visibility as residents defied the ban on firecrackers and celebrated Diwali on Thursday.

The department handled 280 calls related to fire incidents, eight for animal rescue, six for bird rescue, nine each for other rescues and special jobs that include road accidents or cases not related to fire, seven for standby, and others.

Meanwhile, another official of the DFS said they received three calls of fatal nature. Two calls were received from Sagarpur area and one was received from Daryaganj area. According to the southwest district police, they received two different calls regarding suicide at Sagarpur police station.