Mayapuri factory fire in Delhi took 15 hours to control

What happened on Friday night

On the night of Friday, 23 October 2026, a fire broke out on an upper floor of a factory at B-41 in the Mayapuri Industrial Area, West Delhi. The fire control room got the call between about 9 and 9.30 pm. Workers saw flames and smoke and ran out, and no injury has been reported. The first call brought 11 fire tenders from different stations. Updated 27 October 2026.

When the crews reached the lane, three factories were already involved, and the call was upgraded to the “medium” category. Two neighbouring factories were also affected. Each of these buildings has a ground floor, upper floors and a terrace, and one has a basement. Firefighters worked through the night with water and foam to keep the flames from the next building, and one report puts the strength by morning at 26 tenders and more than 80 firefighters.

How the fire was brought down

The fire was declared under control at about 8 am on Saturday, but the work did not stop there. Smoke kept rising from the site, and crews kept cooling it so that nothing could flare up again. By the afternoon the fire service was counting more than 35 tenders used in all and about 15 hours of firefighting, with the crews already on their third shift. Nobody has been blamed and the factories’ loss has not been put into a figure.

What was burning

Reports describe the main unit as a plastic goods and toy factory, and one report says it held thermocol, plastic granules, packing material and a chemical solvent. Another, quoting a divisional fire officer, says it makes plastic flex and sign boards. Either way, this is stock that feeds a fire. Thermocol and plastic melt, drip and burn hard, give off thick black smoke, and a solvent can make the flames jump. Upper floors full of such stock are hard for crews to reach, and the lanes of an industrial area are narrow for a line of tenders. Our guide on boiler explosions and factory fires in India goes through how these fires start and spread, and the piece on air quality after large industrial fires is worth reading for the people who live around such units.

Mayapuri has seen this before. A steel-cutting factory in the same industrial area burned in June 2026, took 18 tenders and lost part of its building. In Delhi itself, our Swaroop Nagar factory fire case study shows a fire reaching the building next door, and the Sonipat foam factory fire is a close example of a stock-heavy unit burning in the same region. For fire brigade numbers, every Delhi fire station and the city’s local risks, see our Delhi fire and emergency safety guide.

What is still not clear

The cause has not been announced. Two reports say a short circuit is suspected, and the fire officer quoted by the news agency said the cause would be looked into after the fire was put out. Reports also differ on the exact start time, on what each of the units made, and on how many tenders were there at any one moment. One report says the administration began checking the fire NOC and safety compliance of the premises, and no result has been reported. We found nothing newer than 24 October.

What you can do tonight

If you run or work in a unit in Mayapuri or any other industrial area, take five minutes after the shift today. Walk out the way you would in a real fire and see what stands in your path. Clear the shutter-side exit of boxes, rolls and pallets, and check that the lane outside is open enough for a fire tender to come in. Look for the nearest fire hydrant and make sure its cover is not buried under parked vehicles or stock. Test the extinguishers against the basics in our fire extinguisher guide, and read what a fire NOC really covers. For fire call 112 or 101. The one thing to do before you leave tonight is to clear the shutter-side exit and check that the hydrant in your lane can be reached.