Indervir Singh, 54, a firefighter, drinks water as he sits inside a fire truck after an operation to control a fire that broke out at a car scrapyard in New Delhi, India on May 30, 2024. Singh has worked for the Delhi Fire Services for 32 years but he can't recall responding to as many fires as this summer. Calls reporting fires between April and June more than doubled from a year ago to over 9,000, fire services data show. And deaths from fires more than tripled in that period, from just 10 a year ago. “I have attended to several back-to-back calls” on recent shifts, said the grey-haired Singh before he rushed to the scene of yet another blaze in his thick jacket, heavy boots and red helmet. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)





Firefighter Sijender Kumar, 54, pulls a water pipe as he and others try to extinguish a fire that broke out at a car scrapyard in New Delhi, India May 30, 2024. Over a dozen firefighters and officers in Delhi were interviewed by Reuters, many of whom described working in “doubly” strenuous conditions of extreme heat and numerous fires. Shifts for firefighters are 24 hours long, followed by a day of rest. Senior officers work three full-day shifts at a time and then take a day off. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)





Firefighters try to join hoses so they can reach a rooftop during an ongoing fire in some textile shops at a market area in the old quarters of Delhi, India, June 13, 2024. Fire officers say electrical failures are responsible for nearly three-quarters of the blazes this summer. With Delhi sweating through what the federal weather office says is one of its longest heat waves on record, demand for air cooling has surged. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)





Firefighter Rajesh Dabhas, 43, pulls a water pipe as he tries to extinguish a fire in some textile shops at a market area in the old quarters of Delhi, India, June 13, 2024. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)





An exhausted firefighter sits next to a fire truck during an ongoing fire in some textile shops at a market area in the old quarters of Delhi, India, June 13, 2024. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)





Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in some textile shops at a market area in the old quarters of Delhi, India, June 13, 2024. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)





A hand rickshaw puller waits for passengers in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Bikas Das/AP Photo)





A man stands next to piles of wood arranged for the mass cremation of people, who died after drinking illegally brewed liquor, in Kallakurichi district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, India, Thursday, June 20, 2024. The state's chief minister M K Stalin said the 34 died after consuming liquor that was tainted with methanol, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. (Photo by R. Parthibhan/AP Photo)





Women tie treads around a banyan tree as part of the rituals to mark Vat Purnima festival in Mumbai, India, Friday, June 21, 2024. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)





Relatives mourn near the deceased who consumed toxic alcohol in Kallakurichi district of India's Tamil Nadu state on June 24, 2024. The death toll from a batch of toxic illegal alcohol in India had risen to 56, police said on June 24, with 117 people in hospital recovering from the deadly drink. (Photo by R. Satish Babu/AFP Photo)





Residents use pipes to fill their containers with drinking water from a water tanker during a hot day in New Delhi, India, on June 24, 2024. (Photo by Priyanshu Singh/Reuters)




Commuters make their way across a street during rainfall in New Delhi on June 27, 2024. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)





Hindu holy men stand in a queue in Jammu, India, to register for the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The pilgrimage held annually to the holy Amarnath cave, dedicated to Hindu god Shiva is scheduled to start on June 29 this year. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)





Traffic police personnel wear special-issued helmets with inbuilt air-conditioning units in Lucknow, India, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The state of Uttar Pradesh has experienced extreme temperatures this summer. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)





A Hindu holy man smokes as he waits in Jammu, India, to register for the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The pilgrimage held annually to the holy Amarnath cave, dedicated to Hindu god Shiva is scheduled to start on June 29 this year. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)





Vehicles wades through water logged rain in New Delhi, India on 28 June , 2024. (Photo by Deep Nair/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy Live News)





Officials from the Forensic Science Laboratory Delhi stand near the portion of a canopy which collapsed following heavy rainfall, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India on June 28, 2024. (Photo by Priyanshu Singh/Reuters)





Commuters wade through flooded streets after heavy rains in New Delhi on June 28, 2024. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)





Despite their preparations being ruined due to rain, young people wave flags as part of birthday celebrations for the president of the Samajwadi party, Shree Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, India on June 30, 2024. (Photo by Shashi Sharma/Pacific Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





People mourn next to the bodies of their relatives outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. A stampede among thousands of people at a religious gathering in northern India killed at least 60 and left scores injured, officials said Tuesday, adding that many women and children were among the dead and the toll could rise. (Photo by AP Photo)