Jaipur’s SMS Hospital, where flames tore through an ICU on Sunday night and claimed six lives, has witnessed several fire incidents over the years — in operating theatres, the microbiology lab, the drug store, and even unfinished buildings within the hospital campus. Each time, alarms were raised and inquiries undertaken, but the hospital moved on. Just this June, a fire broke out in the emergency operating theatre (OT) while the Health Secretary was visiting SMS Hospital. The fire caused panic in the hospital administration as the emergency OT filled with smoke. Responding to the situation, the hospital staff immediately moved patients to safer locations. Preliminary information had suggested a short circuit as the cause of the fire. In January, a massive fire broke out in the under-construction 24-storey Ayushman Tower at SMS. Welding sparks on the fourth floor ignited some material, and flames could be seen rising to the 22nd storey. It was contained before it could cause major damage. In August 2024, an electrical equipment in the Cath Lab caught fire while angiography procedures were underway. It was reported that the fire started due to a short circuit, but was brought under control in time. In January 2024, a major fire at the microbiology lab damaged state-of-the-art equipment, as well as about 20 air conditioners. In June 2022, a fire broke out in a power supply box, causing a power outage in the hospital's ICU, putting the lives of about 30 patients in danger. Doctors quickly administered oxygen to patients using a power backup. The ICU lost power for about an hour and a half. Among other incidents, as many as three fire incidents were reported in four months in 2019, including in the hospital’s drug store, where medicines worth Rs 1 crore were gutted. As many as 125 patients had to be moved due to the fire, and relatives of one patient claimed he died due to smoke and suffocation. Hospital authorities, however, claimed the patient was suffering from acute pneumonia and died as a result of that condition. As the biggest hospital in Rajasthan, SMS attracts patients not just from the rest of the state, but from neighbouring states, too. In 2024, the hospital’s outpatient department treated 31.6 lakh patients — over 8,500 patients daily — while patient admissions were about 1.68 lakh, or about 460 daily. While monitoring such a huge hospital remains a challenge, there are systems in place. D S Meena, former superintendent of SMS Hospital, said, “A short circuit is not in anyone’s control; it can happen at a government or a private hospital. It is the firefighting system that needs to be constantly monitored and executed when required. It is installed across the hospital, and it seems the issue was in the execution part. There are alarms, and you immediately get a message. We used to take a demo every second month.”
