28 September,2026 10:47 AM IST | Mumbai | Sarthak Mehta
Firefighters at the site of a tree fall in May this year. FILE PIC
Mumbai's firefighters responded to 5701 emergency calls in the past three months; of them, just 28 per cent were fire-related, while 72 per cent were in connection with other disasters - mid-day's analysis of data received from Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) showed.
Firefighters don't just extinguish fires; they are also the first responders to most of the city's disasters. The non-fire calls are reported by the MFB in three categories: Rescue services, other services, and house collapses.
An MFB official said, "House collapse calls range from a slab or small portion falling to an entire building collapsing; other services include calls about tree collapse, oil spillage, road accidents, and drowning; while rescue services include similar calls involving the rescue of animals and humans from trees, water bodies, and manholes, etc."
[popcorn number="2688" desc="No of emergency calls received by MFB in July" class="Default"]
During the last three months, MFB - which has 188 officers and 2389 staff stationed across 36 fire stations and 20 mini fire stations - responded to 2565 other service calls, 1580 fire calls, 1391 rescue service calls and 165 house collapses. The highest number of calls for fire and rescue services was in June, while most other services and house collapse calls were received in July.
Firefighters attend to a blaze on the terrace of the Atlantic building on Sherly Rajan Road in Bandra West on the night of June 17. PICS/SATEJ SHINDE
During the last three months, 47 per cent of emergency calls (2688) were received in July. For the city's firefighters, July turns out to be the busiest month not just in the last three months but also in the past year, with Mumbai receiving over 60 per cent of the annual average rainfall in that month alone.
Among the last three months, the second busiest was June (2007 calls) and August (1006 calls). City Firefighters also responded to significantly more emergency calls in the past three months than they did during the same period in 2025, when 3432 calls were received between June and August.
The total emergency calls the MFB has reported for the last 12 months - September 2025 to August 2026 - is 17,729. Of which 6457 were related to rescue services, 5975 to fires, 4982 to other services, and 315 to house collapses. The figures put fire calls for the year at 34 per cent and non-fire calls at 66 per cent; Firefighters attended to 11,754 non-fire emergencies in the past 12 months.
