20210722 Fire breaks out in building on Chennai’s Anna Salai
India Jul 22 2021 “Building” “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire breaks out in building on Chennai’s Anna Salai
Updated: 2021-07-22
Fire and rescue services personnel used a skylift to put out the fire. Photo by C Suresh Kumar
CHENNAI: A fire broke out at a computer parts shop on the third floor of a five-storey building on the Anna Salai in Chennai on Thursday. Preliminary inquiries revealed that no one was injured in the accident.
The fire broke out at Devaraj Computers Private Limited in GG Complex, located close to Shanthi Theatre, around 11am. At least 10 fire tenders from Triplicane, Madras high court, Egmore, Anna Square, and Teynampet were pressed into service. Around 25 Metrowater tankers and private water tankers were also used to extinguish the fire.
Thirty eight people, who were trapped on the third floor, were evacuated. Eight of them, including a baby, were evacuated with the help of a skylift. The 30 others, including 12 women, were rescued after breaking open a door at the extreme north corner of the building.
Fire and rescue services DGP Karan Singha and other fire officers visited the place.
As the building is located right on the Anna Salai, fire personnel found it difficult to control the curious crowd. Police assisted fire personnel by controlling the crowd. Police used the public addressing system to streamline the public movement on the road.
S Ambikeshwaran, owner of Apollo Arms company located at the second floor, said, “I was in my office. I heard cries for help around 11am. I rushed out to find a thick smoke emanating from the third floor. Immediately, we evacuated all our staff members.”
Fire and rescue services personnel reached the spot in the next 10 minutes. “Fire personnel and police did a commendable job and evacuated all people trapped on the third floor,” said Ambikeshwaran.
Additional director of fire services S Vijaya Sekar said, “The fire was totally brought under control.” The fire and rescue personnel kept a fire tender on standby in case a fire broke out again.
They have decided to issue notice to the complex owner for not adhering to the fire safety norms. Sekar said, “The building is old and it seemed that they didn’t obtain the fire safety certificate from us. I have asked my subordinate officers to check the status and issue a notice to the complex owner. The building neither has a properly maintained emergency sump nor the fire sprinklers and safety extinguishers installed in the computer spare parts shop, where the fire broke out.”
Web Source: The Times of India