The Bombay explosion (or Bombay docks explosion) occurred on 14 April 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay, British India (now Mumbai, India) when the British freighter SS Fort Stikine, carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, timber, oil, gold, and ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosives with an additional 240 tons of torpedoes and weapons, caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and setting fire to the area, killing around 800 to 1,300 people. Some 80,000 people were made homeless and 71 firemen lost their lives in the aftermath.

Therefor The Fire Service Week (FSW) is observed nation-wide under the guidance of the Fire Adviser, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India during April 14 – 20. This is in remembrance of the lives lost in the devastating fire that erupted and the explosions that followed on 14th April, 1944 at the Victoria Dock in the Mumbai Port and also to prevent fire in all industries.