Patna recorded 42 of the 110 fire-related calls received across Bihar during the 48 hours of Diwali, making it the state’s highest-count district, even as fire services reported that most incidents were minor and no major fire emergency occurred.
Manoj Kumar Nat, DIG, Fire Services, said the situation across Bihar remained largely stable. “Approximately 110 fire calls were received across the state during the 48 hours, of which 42 were from Patna. Most were minor incidents and no injuries were reported. The majority of the fires were caused by sparks from firecrackers rather than short circuits,” he told the Times of India.
The incidents were concentrated in areas where combustible materials had accumulated, including garbage dumps, scrap shops, commercial premises and junkyards. Fire services officials said sparks from firecrackers landed on scrap, waste and other discarded materials, triggering flames.
Patna’s high number of calls was attributed by officials to its dense settlements and extensive Diwali celebrations. The incident pattern points to the operational challenge of managing festival-related fire risks in areas where tightly packed buildings, commercial activity and improperly stored combustible material exist close to residential neighbourhoods.
The fire services department had deployed 4,262 personnel across Bihar for the festival, including 375 in Patna district. A total of 750 fire tenders were positioned across the state, with 79 stationed in Patna. Additional firefighting teams and vehicles were kept in reserve for emergency response.
Special arrangements were made at 45 locations in Patna. These included the deployment of additional resources and standby teams intended to reduce response times in areas considered vulnerable to fire incidents during the festival period.
Among the incidents reported in the district, smoke engulfed an apartment near a mall in Kankarbagh, prompting the rescue of around 30 to 40 residents. A fire at a steel factory near Paijawa in Patna City required 10 fire tenders before it was brought under control.
A scrap shop in Bihta also caught fire. The report said shopkeeper Rajiv Kumar sustained minor injuries in that incident, while another fire was reported at a scrap shop in Maner. These individual incidents were reported alongside the fire department’s broader assessment that the festival passed without a major fire-related emergency.
The department had issued advisories favouring green crackers, but officials said the use of firecrackers continued to contribute to the incidents. The concentration of fires around scrap and waste storage areas also highlighted the role of local site conditions in determining how quickly a small ignition can develop into a larger emergency.
Nat said the overall situation remained under control and described Bihar’s Diwali as relatively incident-free compared with several other states where major fire incidents were reported. The fire services department’s festival deployment and reserve arrangements were maintained as the immediate response framework for fire calls during the period.
