On 3rd June, fire brigade units from Bhikaji Cama Place, roughly 7-8 km away, and Nehru Place, 6 km away, responded to the Hauz Rani call. Residents carried out desperate rescue operations before fire tenders arrived in strength. The tragedy claimed at least 22 lives, including several foreign nationals. Merely 500 metres from the site of that hotel fire in Malviya Nagar stands the Geetanjali Fire Station—a distance traversable by foot in under 10 minutes. But when the fire broke out, local residents said that the fire safety staff was late. A news report says, the team at Geetanjali Fire Station was tending to a garbage fire in Jaunapur, nearly 10 km away. “We did not have enough people to respond to the Hauz Rani call. Had we been available, things would have been very different,” the report quoted a senior officer at Geetanjali Fire Station having spoken under the condition of anonymity.

How and why did this happen? Mostly because Delhi Fire Service (DFS) website shows that it operates approximately 71 stations—including headquarters and training facilities—of which four operate only during daytime. These stations handle about 98 emergency calls every day and thousands of fire and rescue operations annually.

The DFS’ total sanctioned strength stands at 3,633 posts. However, recent RTI responses from 2026 indicate around 1,030 total vacancies, including administrative roles.

“We got another truck after the recent fire. We now have two trucks, one with a 4,500-litre capacity and another with 12,500 litres. But the personnel strength remains the same. We can use the secondary truck to provide assistance, but not to undertake independent operations” says a senior officer at Geetanjali Fire Station.