Hyderabad, July 13 -- Telangana has recorded a sharp increase in fire emergencies this year, with the state fire services department responding to nearly one call every 30 minutes, the highest number of which are in Hyderabad.

Official data shows that fire and rescue teams attended 8,914 incidents between January 1 and July 12. Later year, it was 6,273 cases during the same period.

Property losses increase

The rise in fire incidents has also resulted in higher property losses. Fires destroyed property worth Rs 406.54 crore this year. Last year, it was Rs 365.17 crore.

Despite the increase in incidents, firefighters prevented much larger losses by saving property valued at Rs 1,117.95 crore while carrying out rescue and firefighting op...