Fire at Surat New Civil Hospital: No Casualties as Blaze Hits Old Block Under Repair; Cause Under Investigation

What happened

On Saturday, 24 October 2026, a fire broke out in an old, unused part of the New Civil Hospital in Majura Gate, Surat, Gujarat’s diamond city. Electrical repair work was going on at the spot, and every report we opened says no patient was in the affected area. Four to five workers were taken out safely, nobody was hurt, and Surat’s fire brigade brought the fire under control within minutes (ETV Bharat, Gujarat Samachar, Loktej, TV9 Gujarati). Updated 26 October 2026.

No outlet gives the exact time. The earliest video we found was uploaded at about 12.15 pm IST, so the fire was before that; this is our reading of the upload time, not a published time. The hospital is the main government hospital of Surat city, and a fire anywhere on its campus puts hundreds of patients, relatives and staff close by. That is why we have written this up even though nobody was hurt.

Which part of the hospital

Outlets name the place differently, and we could not settle it. The hospital’s in-charge RMO, Dr Laxman Teliya, told reporters that the work was in an old, empty hall at the Physiotherapy OPD, where the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) electrical team was doing repairs (Gujarat Samachar). ETV Bharat and Gujarat Samachar place it near the old Microbiology department. TV9 Gujarati and GSTV call it the old NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) section, and TV9 adds that this section was not in use and that a records section was being shifted on the first floor. Zee 24 Kalak, Gujarat First and News Gujarat call it the old MICU (medical ICU) building, and a Divya Bhaskar headline says old MEICU. We read these as different names for the same old, closed block, but we cannot confirm that. No report gives a floor with certainty.

Early reports sounded worse. Gujarat First’s video description spoke of fire in the “ICU ward”, with patients and relatives running and rescue under way, and the first version of the Gujarat Samachar story carried “patients” and “stampede” in its web address. The hospital’s own statement later was that no patient was present because the hall was under repair. We follow the later statement and mention the early wording so readers know why some headlines still say ICU.

Patients, workers and injuries

No death or injury has been reported. Gujarat Samachar and Loktej say four workers got out; ETV Bharat says four to five. TV9 Gujarati quotes hospital officials as saying no patient, newborn or staff member was in the affected area, and that no important records were kept there. ETV Bharat says the fire suddenly became severe and caused panic among people nearby, and GSTV says it created a rush in the hospital. We found no report of any patient being shifted. Because the old block was empty, there was nothing to evacuate there; we do not know whether patients in nearby wards were moved as a precaution.

The cause, as reported

No final cause has been announced. These are the accounts, with who said them.

• Spark in a duct. Dr Teliya said sparks flew from a duct during the electrical repair work and caught flammable material lying nearby (Gujarat Samachar, ETV Bharat, Loktej).
• Short circuit. Gujarat Samachar’s headline and TV9 Gujarati say short circuit. TV9 attributes it to the hospital superintendent, during the cutting of AC ducts.
• Welding on the AC duct. TV9 says fire officials suggested that welding on the central AC system duct set thermocol sheets and wrappers alight. TV9 adds that the preliminary view is a short circuit plus negligence during maintenance. The report does not name the officials.
• Air conditioner. GSTV says an AC caught fire “for some reason”.

These accounts are not the same: a spark from cutting or welding is different from an electrical fault in an AC. What they share is that repair work, ducts and loose combustible material were all at the spot. TV9 Gujarati says the fire department has started an investigation into the exact cause; no other outlet mentions an inquiry.

Fire brigade response

The Surat Municipal Corporation fire department reached quickly. TV9 Gujarati says eight to ten fire engines came; Loktej says about nine from six fire stations and that the fire was controlled “within a few minutes” (an AajkaalDaily headline also says nine). TV9 reports that hospital staff first tried to fight the fire with the hospital’s own fire-safety equipment before the fire brigade took over. We saw no report on how long the fire burned, how much was damaged, or whether the hospital’s alarm or sprinklers worked. Loktej quotes a line that a big tragedy was averted because the fire was put out in time; that is the newspaper’s wording and is not attributed to a fire officer.

Fire safety status and follow-up

We found no statement on whether the New Civil Hospital holds a valid fire NOC or has had a recent fire audit, and no report of an FIR, a suspension, an audit order or any action against the contractor. That is absence of reports, not proof that nothing happened. We will not guess.

Could it have been worse? Our assessment from the facts

Under our own rule, a fire in a government hospital is covered even when nobody is hurt, because of what could have happened. On the facts reported: only the repair workers were in the hall, and all got out; the stuff burning was combustible material near a duct and, per TV9, thermocol and wrappers, not oxygen or ICU equipment; the fire brigade needed nine or so engines and brought it under control in minutes; and a fire investigation has been started. Against that, the old block sits inside a working hospital, early reports described panic among relatives and staff, and the work was hot work (cutting or welding) that creates sparks. No official has said what would have happened with a different timing or place, so we do not claim it. Our reading is a near-miss: a small, contained fire with no harm, but one that shows how repair work can put a hospital at risk.

Why this matters

Most hospital fires that make national news start in a place that is under repair, in storage or in electrical equipment, and they spread through smoke. The Godhra Civil Hospital fire earlier this month ended with an evacuation and no clear cause. The SVP Hospital fire in Ahmedabad began with a spark in a laundry, and the SMS Hospital fire in Jaipur and the Jhansi Medical College NICU fire killed patients. Our note on why hospital fires happen in India shows the same few causes again and again. Surat itself has a long fire history; our Surat fire and emergency safety guide lists local numbers and hazards.

Lessons for readers

• Hospital managers and contractors: treat cutting, welding and grinding as hot work. Use a written permit, clear everything that burns (thermocol, packing wrappers, wooden boards, old files) from the work area before starting, and keep a trained person with an extinguisher watching during and for some time after the work.
• Seal the repair zone. Keep the work area apart from wards, with doors shut, so that smoke cannot travel into occupied areas. Switch off and tag the electrical supply to the part being cut.
• Do not use an old ward as a store. Packing material and shifted records add fuel. Put them where there is no hot work.
• Test the hospital’s alarm and extinguishers on a fixed schedule, and make sure staff know how to use them. See our workplace fire safety note.
• Patients’ families: note the nearest two exits when you arrive. If you smell smoke or hear an alarm, help the patient out by the stairs, never a lift, and follow staff instructions. Do not crowd the corridor or stop to film. Our guide for families and staff has more.
• If you see a fire, call 112 or 101 and give the building and floor. Our emergency numbers guide explains which number to call.

These lessons are general good practice. They are not findings about what the contractor or the hospital did or did not do.

What is still not known

We do not know the exact time, which building and floor, or the final cause: a spark from cutting or welding, a short circuit or an AC fault. We do not know who the contractor was, whether a hot-work permit was in place, whether the hospital’s alarms and sprinklers worked, whether nearby patients were moved, how much damage there was, or whether the hospital has a valid fire NOC. We found no inquiry report. We will update this page when the fire department or the hospital publishes a finding. Last checked 26 October 2026.