Of the 36,877 emergency calls logged by New Delhi across 2025-26 — a volume not recorded in the preceding six years — more than half, at 55.3%, were tied to fire-related incidents. The remainder comprised wildlife rescues and other urgent matters.
Data covering fire-related incidents shows that premises lacking valid safety certification accounted for 99 out of every 100 cases recorded. Fire calls came in more frequently from areas covered by informal settlements and structures where narrow or blocked routes kept emergency vehicles from arriving promptly. Fires also broke out in officially approved areas, where wiring under strain and accumulated combustible materials provided the conditions for ignition.
A Friday gathering convened under Lieutenant Governor TS Sandhu's chairmanship brought these findings before officials conducting an assessment of Delhi Fire Service operations. The session, also chaired by state home minister Ashish Sood alongside the chief secretary, MCD commissioner, Delhi Police's special commissioner, the principal secretary for home affairs, and other senior government figures, took stock of operational readiness, public safety arrangements, resource deployment, and the rollout of planned measures.
A review of fire response times was set in motion under Sandhu's direction, with a focus on thickly settled residential areas, zones of concentrated industrial activity, and multi-storey buildings. A zone-by-zone action plan with trackable targets and regular progress reviews was among the directives put forward. Sandhu's statement also called for coordinated working arrangements between traffic police, MCD, DDA, and other relevant bodies to keep routes clear for fire tenders.
Among the proposals put forward, an official noted, were regular assessments of fire risk across areas considered at heightened exposure, along with scheduled practice drills. Sandhu urged ongoing fire safety outreach programmes that would draw in students, resident welfare bodies, industry groups, and traders' associations operating in markets.
Orders went out from Sandhu requiring agencies to intensify their inspection and audit activity, with a particular focus on residential blocks, market areas, factory and workshop premises, and locations where housing and commercial use overlap. Properties with a pattern of repeated non-compliance were to be flagged, with remediation steps worked out alongside the people who live in or own them.
Sandhu's instructions to Delhi Fire Service covered three areas: moving faster on recruitment, advancing outstanding staffing proposals, and securing necessary operational equipment. Routine checks on operational readiness were among the points he underlined.
Among Sandhu's proposals was a unified operations hub capable of monitoring vehicle locations and feeding live incident data to those managing the network. Tools put forward include a GIS-linked dispatch platform with computer-aided routing, live video feeds from active fire locations, a mobile application for public use, and a unified communication network spanning ultra-high frequency and radio frequency bands. Under the plan outlined by officials, a central coordination hub would draw together five regional control rooms, an arrangement intended to keep communications functional when large-scale incidents unfold.
Of the 71 fire stations spread across Delhi — four of which handle calls only during daylight hours — the city falls short of the 120-station threshold set out in the Master Plan, a benchmark tied to achieving response times of five minutes or under. Plans to bolster firefighting capacity prompted instructions for agencies to fast-track the identification and handover of plots suitable for new stations, with zones carrying elevated risk, dense populations, or rapid growth placed at the front of the queue. Plots for 23 of the planned fire stations have been secured, with the relevant bodies directed to identify and set aside plots for the outstanding 27. Under the proposed growth blueprint, Delhi's network of fire stations would be expanded from its current 71 facilities to a total of 121.
