20160427 India Fire guts Delhi’s landmark natural history museum
India Apr 27 2016 “Building”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire guts Delhi’s landmark natural history museum
Updated: 2016-04-27-22:23
A blazing inferno reduced the iconic National Museum of Natural History in central Delhi to ashes in the early hours of Tuesday, destroying precious natural treasures housed in the 38-year-old institution that had been frequented by generations of kids in the city.
The cause of the fire, which broke out in the sixth floor of the seven-storey building, is yet to be ascertained. It took 100 firemen, 37 fire tenders and eight lakh litres of water to control the blaze that had spread to all floors including the galleries, gutting the museum from inside.
No casualties were reported but six firemen who had first responded to the emergency calls had to be rescued from inside the building filled with thick plumes of smoke. They were briefly hospitalised. Police are also probing the possibility of sabotage.
Fire officials said a notice has been sent to the museum authorities after it was found they did not have the fire safety clearance that has to be taken every three years. The flames were first noticed around 1.35am by guards in the adjoining Ficci auditorium in the same complex. They informed the fire department following which 25 fire engines and a skylift crane reached the spot and started to douse the fire on the sixth floor.
A team of firemen also went up the stairs from one side of the building to cut off the sources of the fire with handheld equipment. They say that apart from the fire alarms, none of the sprinklers or hydrants were found to be working. The hose pipes fitted to the fire engines too could not reach the topmost floor.
Eyewitnesses said fire droplets from melting plastic sheets had started dropping on the AC units installed at the floor below by then. Soon there was a series of minor explosions following which the fire spread to the fifth floor.
Fire officials said the flames spread rapidly to the rest of the building while they were busy rescuing their colleagues stuck inside the building. An alert about a major fire was sounded and 37 fire teams from south and central Delhi were pressed to service.
“We had no option but to push the fire inside the building from one side. The staircases were blocked with smoke and access to the rear portion of the building was restricted due to scaffolding that has been put up for renovation at the fourth floor of the building,” said a fire officer. Officials from the Ficci and senior managers of the museum reached the spot by then. Around 4am, the guards told fire officials about an underground tank but it was found that its pumps were not functioning. “It was difficult even to access the courtyard of the museum since burning balls of concrete and bricks had started falling to the ground, “said Anand Kumar, a local eatery owner.
The fire was finally doused around 6.45am. But it started again around 8am on the sixth floor and around 8.45am on the fifth floor. After extinguishing the flames, cooling operations went on for three more hours.
B Venugopal, director of the museum, said the first four floors had galleries which displayed stuffed models of animals and plants that were damaged due to the fire. “The extent of loss can only be assessed once we take full stock of the situation that might take a few days, “he said.
Preliminary probe suggests fire started at an electrical unit on the sixth floor and spread downwards due to abundance of inflammable material. A case under IPC 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) has been registered.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Fire-guts-Delhis-landmark-natural-history-museum/articleshow/52002761.cms