Delhi Fire Department got more than 200 calls on May 29, highest so far this year

Delhi Fire Services received record 183 fire-related calls in a day, with 55 lives lost due to fires this year.

“The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received more than 200 calls, including 183 fire-related, on May 29, the highest so far this year,” officials said. “From January 1 to May 26, they received 8,912 fire-related calls,” according to the data shared by the DFS on May 26.

We received 183 calls fire-related calls in 24 hours, ending midnight of May 29, DFS chief Atul Garg said. "This was the highest single-day calls recorded so far in this year." 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, fire has 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 till 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 on May 29 gutted by a fire that broke out 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 area. No one was injured in the incident as people were safely evacuated from the building.