20230529 Cars parked in tower led to 10-min delay in firefighting
India May 29 2023 “Apartment houses” “Building”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Cars parked in tower led to 10-min delay in firefighting
Updated: 2023-05-29
MUMBAI: The fire brigade lost crucial 10 minutes removing the parked vehicles spread over almost the entire premises of Breach Candy Apartments on Bhulabhai Desai Road in south Mumbai, where a blaze erupted in a 12th floor flat late on Saturday.
To compound the challenge, many residents evacuated their flats in a haste without their car keys, necessitating the use of a towing van to clear the area.
Moreover, a JCB had to be called in to demolish the divider on the narrow road outside the ground-plus 14-storey building so that the fire engines could enter the premises.
This incident underscores the importance of housing societies maintaining open spaces on the premises, enabling emergency services to swiftly enter and initiate rescue operations, said firefighters.
The fire brigade is yet to ascertain the exact cause of the blaze, which also triggered two LPG cylinder explosions in the flat. The blaze engulfed the entire 12th floor flat of chartered accountant Raghu Iyer. Two people were successfully rescued without any reported injuries. The building is home to film director-writer Homi Adajania. Several residents declined to comment on the incident.
Assistant divisional fire officer V N Sangle said they arrived at the scene shortly after receiving the call at 10.24pm. “However, we found too many cars parked in the compound and our firefighting apparatuses could not be maneuvered inside to begin extinguishing operations. This resulted in lost time as we had to first move the vehicles out of the premises,” he said.
Sangle further said the firefighting equipment in the tower, which was built in 1968, also did not prove to be of much assistance, though residents claimed to have submitted the mandatory Form B certifying that the fire safety measures were in efficient condition.
On learning about the delay in attending to the fire call as the road divider had to be demolished to enter the premises, local MP Arvind Sawant, in a tweet, urged the BMC chief, police commissioner, additional police commissioner (traffic) and the fire brigade to pay “serious attention to such issues”. “…If possible, instead of constructing continuous permanent divider, why not install portable barricade after certain span along with the divider,” Sawant tweeted.
Web Source: The Times of India