20160412 India Fire breaks out at Chancery Pavilion, guests safe
India Apr 11 2016 “Building”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 1 to 9
Fire breaks out at Chancery Pavilion, guests safe
Updated: 2016-04-12-01:01
Over 200 guests and employees of The Chancery Pavilion, a five-star hotel on Residency Road, were evacuated after a fire broke out in the basement on Monday. Heavy smoke engulfed the eight-floor building. One person was hospitalized for inhaling smoke.
Seven firetenders battled the blaze for over an hour to bring it under control and three more hours were needed to clear the building of smoke.
Fire control room officials said at 11.04am, they received a call from a hotel employee. Initially, two firetenders were rushed to the spot but more were pressed into service considering the magnitude of the fire.
MN Reddi, DGP, fire and emergency services, said due to the thick smoke, it was difficult for the personnel to get to the root of the fire. “The blaze started in the second basement. Cloth material used for housekeeping was stored there and caught fire. Fighting the fire through the dense smoke was a challenge,” he said.
Fire brigade sources said though the flames were restricted to the lower basement, the smoke enveloped the upper basement, ground floor and first floor.
Panic gripped a stretch of Residency Road (on the Richmond Circle side) as a large number of evacuees waited on the footpath. One of the hotel employees said they didn’t see the smoke but were asked by a collegaue to get out of the building. “Only when we rushed out did we see smoke billowing out of the basement,” said an employee on condition on anonymity.
Sandeep Patil, deputy commissioner of police (central), said there were more than 200 people in the hotel as there was a conference underway.
Reddi said it was too early to identify what triggered the fire. A probe has been ordered to ascertain the cause and to find out if there were any lapses on the part of the hotel, he added.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Fire-breaks-out-at-Chancery-Pavilion-guests-safe/articleshow/51786352.cms