20190516 Pharma shop in society catches fire, 27 residents rescued from terrace
India May 16 2019 “Building” “Complex bldg.” “Houses” “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Pharma shop in society catches fire, 27 residents rescued from terrace
Updated: 2019–05–17
PUNE: Panic spread among the residents of the five-storeyed Joshi Sankul building in Shaniwar Peth after a fire broke out in a wholesale pharmaceutical shop located on the first floor of the building on Thursday morning.
The children and some women fled to the terrace of the building from where they were rescued by the fire brigade.
Thick smoke spread within no time in the verandahs and flats of the building around 8am. No one was injured, fire brigade officials said.
Local resident Deepak Bhandari told TOI, “We all rushed down the stairs but there was dense smoke. The children and other residents then rushed up the stairs. The smoke was coming out of the first floor shop and it was impossible to breathe.”
Fire station officer Vijay Bhilare told TOI, “The pharmaceutical shop caught fire and dense smoke filled the building due to the fluids and spirits that were in the shop.”
Bhilare said high ladders were used to rescue the stranded people from the terrace. “ My team rescued 27 people from the terrace of the building,” he said.
The firemen then got into the shop to battle the raging fire. It took them two hours to put it out. The inflammable material in the shop added fuel to the fire. The smoke could be spotted from different parts of the city.
The fire broke out at 8am and the fire brigade received the call at 8.15am, fire officials said. Seven fire tenders and a water tanker were at the spot. The cause of the fire was not known.
Shop owner Anup Nahar said he had locked up on Wednesday evening after the day’s business. “Nothing seemed amiss at that time. I have all legal permissions to run the shop in the building,” he said.
Though the building has a fire-fighting system, it was in a state of neglect and had never been put to use. The residents told TOI that they did not know how to operate it.
“If it had been in a working condition, the fire could have been put out by the residents even before the firemen arrived,” Bhilare said.
Web Source: The times of india