20160819 India Fire in partially occupied commercial bldg at Bandra, none injured
India Aug 19 2016 “Building”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire in partially occupied commercial bldg at Bandra, none injured
Updated: 2016-08-19-23:56
A fire broke out in a commercial building at Bandra’s Linking Road area on Friday morning. However, no one was injured as the ground-plus-eight-storey structure was not fully operational and received an occupancy certificate from the BMC only around three months ago.
A short circuit is believed to have started the fire in the structure which had a glass facade and is located at the busy Linking Road junction. Around 11.52am, the fire brigade received a call and around eight fire engines, six water tankers and one ambulance reached the spot. South-bound traffic in the area had to be shut for a while on account of the fire-fighting operations.
A fire officer at the spot said there was a delay in informing the fire brigade by the occupants. “After realizing that there was heavy smoke, the occupants called up the police control room who then informed us about the incident. Ideally we should have been informed first,” said the officer. Since the entire structure had a glass facade, the fire brigade had to break down the entire glass portion on the right side to let out the accumulated smoke.
The source of the fire was a 2,000sq ft office on the sixth floor of the building, which had around six or seven people at the time of the incident.
Daya Shankar, who runs a juice shop opposite the incident spot said, “Earlier when the smoke started coming we thought it was due to fogging activity undertaken by the BMC in the vicinity. However, on watching the smoke increase we understood a fire had broken out in the building.”
Chief fire officer P Rahangdale told TOI the building did have a fire-fighting system but they are checking if the same was activated properly. “I have instructed that if there were any flaws, action should be taken under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measure Act,” said Rahangadale.
Luckily it wasn’t a major fire and the entire operation was completed in less than three hours. The fire-fighters, who were using a 37-metre ladder to reach the top and break portions of the glass facade, were continuously taking precautions to ensure it did not fall on any passersby.
BMC assistant municipal commissioner H-West ward Sharad Ughade said the building was not yet fully occupied. “The commercial building was ready but not fully occupied. The OC for the building was given a few months back,” Ughade said.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Fire-in-partially-occupied-commercial-bldg-at-Bandra-none-injured/articleshow/53777770.cms