Pune recorded 94 fire incidents between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning during Lakshmi Puja, the highest number reported for the festival period in the past six years, according to a report by Lokmat – Pune. Firefighters responded across the city and its suburbs, with no loss of life reported, although several incidents caused significant property damage.
The incidents were recorded over roughly 16 hours, from 3 pm on Sunday until 7 am on Monday. The first reported call came at 3:14 pm from Kadnagar Chowk in Kondhwa, where waste in the basement of a building caught fire. Fire calls increased between 7 pm and 11 pm as fireworks intensified, leading to repeated deployments from the fire control room through the night.
The reported incidents covered a wide range of urban settings. A printing shop on Satara Road caught fire, while a warehouse in Mangalwar Peth was damaged. A flat in the Range Hills area also caught fire, prompting a response from the fire brigade and police. Other reported locations included Shivajinagar, Sadashiv Peth, Kothrud, Nana Peth, Bhavani Peth, Katraj, Dhayari, Sinhagad Road, Warje, Yerawada, Kharadi, Viman Nagar, Baner, Pashan, Hadapsar and Dhanori.
The fires affected flats, balconies, rooftops, open grassland, waste, trees, shops and vehicles. A sugarcane-processing unit, or gurhal, was also among the locations reportedly affected. The report attributed the incidents largely to sparks from fireworks, including rockets and aerial fireworks that landed on balconies, windows, rooftops and storage facilities.
The six-year comparison shows that Pune recorded 21 fire incidents during Lakshmi Puja in 2021, 19 in 2022, 35 in 2023, 60 in 2024, 43 in 2025 and 94 in 2026. The latest figure is more than double last year’s count and is the highest in the period covered by the report.
The incident pattern placed pressure on the city’s emergency-response system because calls came from dispersed residential, commercial and peripheral areas rather than from a single location. Firefighters had to attend incidents involving buildings, open spaces, shops, vehicles and waste, requiring responses across several parts of Pune and its expanding suburbs.
The reported consequences extended beyond the immediate fire risk. The article noted that fireworks release sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and heavy metals, which can worsen air quality and affect people with asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory conditions. Loud explosions can also disturb children, older people, ill residents and pregnant women, while sudden noise can frighten domestic and stray animals and disorient birds.
The report further noted that paper and chemical waste left on roads after fireworks can enter soil or rainwater and create longer-term environmental concerns. The Pune fire brigade’s immediate response prevented fatalities in the incidents covered, but the official next steps and any detailed assessment of property damage were not specified in the supplied report.
