33 rescued by fire brigade in Saki Naka blaze
Mumbai: Thirty-three people, including four children and two babies, were rescued on Saturday morning after a fire broke out in a ground-plus-five-storey building in Saki Naka, Andheri East. A fire officer told HT that it was caused by a short circuit.According to Jenin Jacob, a third-floor resident, there were no fire extinguishers on the floors or a fire alarm. “But this is an old building, so I’m not sure how possible it is to get it to comply with fire safety regulations,” she said. The fire officer said the building was around 32 years old and did not have to meet any fire safety requirements at that point.Around 8.50 am, Mohammed Azeem Khan, the watchman of Sathi D’Souza Nagar Cooperative Housing Society came down by lift to a horrific sight. The meter boxes of the building had caught fire, and the tiles that lined the foyer walls were popping off from the heat, making loud firecracker-like noises. A blaze was spreading. Inside their houses, residents became aware that something was wrong when the electricity abruptly went off. “In a while, we began hearing loud blast-like noises,” said Afroz Khan, a resident of Flat 101 directly above the foyer. “We couldn’t open the door, as the fire had reached there. Within five minutes, smoke filled our house from the corridor and windows. Breathing was becoming difficult. We were all scared.” Fortunately for Khan, one of the bedrooms in his house is on the opposite end of the building, where he and his four other family members congregated. His house is also one of the few in the building whose windows are not grilled. The owner of a shop on the ground floor rushed to get a ladder from the building next door, and before the fire brigade could arrive, Khan and his family were safely down. The fire brigade rescued 33 people with the help of a first-floor ladder, an Angus ladder and via the staircase. The fire was extinguished by 10.46 am. It remained confined to the electric wiring, electric installation and electric panel boards in the electric meter cabin on the ground floor. No injuries were reported.Mohsin Khan, Afroz’s immediate neighbour in Flat 102, has grilled windows, and the only way the family could get out was by breaking the grill, which was not an easy task. “I called an electrician, and both of us started whacking at the grill with a hammer and other tools, he from the outside and I from inside,” said Khan. Eventually the fire brigade also joined, and the five inmates of the flat were able to climb down.Ali Chaudhary in Flat 105 took a different approach. “I’m a hospitality student, so we quickly took safety precautions that I’ve learnt,” he said. “We gathered in the bedroom and closed the door, blocking all the gaps and vents with wet cloth. Then we waited for the fire brigade.” His family, including his two-and-a-half-year-old nephew, along with their neighbours, Sajunish Nisa and her family in 104, left via the staircase after the fire had been extinguished. “We will definitely make a safety door on our grill now,” said Nisa, scarred from the morning’s events.The dense smoke travelled right up to the upper floors. Salman Khan from Flat 205 reported that the smoke was so thick outside their doors that they were totally unable to step out. His family was given safe passage through a ladder placed by the fire brigade at their window. “I have two daughters, aged five and seven. My elder daughter was scared and crying, so the fireman had to carry her down. But my younger one was brave and climbed down herself,” he said. An eight-month-old baby was also carried down by the fire brigade from Room 304. Others, however, stayed in their homes, as the fire had started to wane due to the efforts of the fire brigade, and were helped down the stairs by the firemen.But another worry had started to bother the residents, namely when the electricity, shut off by their service provider for safety reasons, would be back. While the building society was discussing what arrangements would have to be made to get the meter boxes running, arrangements for water were made from the building next door. Some residents had already left their homes for their relatives’ places, but others planned to stay. “How long can we stay away from our home?” asked Khan.
oustfire
Mumbai: Thirty-three people, including four children and two babies, were rescued on Saturday morning after a fire broke out in a ground-plus-five-storey building in Saki Naka, Andheri East. A fire officer told HT that it was caused by a short circuit.
According to Jenin Jacob, a third-floor resident, there were no fire extinguishers on the floors or a fire alarm. “But this is an old building, so I’m not sure how possible it is to get it to comply with fire safety regulations,” she said. The fire officer said the building was around 32 years old and did not have to meet any fire safety requirements at that point.
Around 8.50 am, Mohammed Azeem Khan, the watchman of Sathi D’Souza Nagar Cooperative Housing Society came down by lift to a horrific sight. The meter boxes of the building had caught fire, and the tiles that lined the foyer walls were popping off from the heat, making loud firecracker-like noises. A blaze was spreading.
Inside their houses, residents became aware that something was wrong when the electricity abruptly went off. “In a while, we began hearing loud blast-like noises,” said Afroz Khan, a resident of Flat 101 directly above the foyer. “We couldn’t open the door, as the fire had reached there. Within five minutes, smoke filled our house from the corridor and windows. Breathing was becoming difficult. We were all scared.”
Fortunately for Khan, one of the bedrooms in his house is on the opposite end of the building, where he and his four other family members congregated. His house is also one of the few in the building whose windows are not grilled. The owner of a shop on the ground floor rushed to get a ladder from the building next door, and before the fire brigade could arrive, Khan and his family were safely down.
The fire brigade rescued 33 people with the help of a first-floor ladder, an Angus ladder and via the staircase. The fire was extinguished by 10.46 am. It remained confined to the electric wiring, electric installation and electric panel boards in the electric meter cabin on the ground floor. No injuries were reported.
Mohsin Khan, Afroz’s immediate neighbour in Flat 102, has grilled windows, and the only way the family could get out was by breaking the grill, which was not an easy task. “I called an electrician, and both of us started whacking at the grill with a hammer and other tools, he from the outside and I from inside,” said Khan. Eventually the fire brigade also joined, and the five inmates of the flat were able to climb down.
Ali Chaudhary in Flat 105 took a different approach. “I’m a hospitality student, so we quickly took safety precautions that I’ve learnt,” he said. “We gathered in the bedroom and closed the door, blocking all the gaps and vents with wet cloth. Then we waited for the fire brigade.” His family, including his two-and-a-half-year-old nephew, along with their neighbours, Sajunish Nisa and her family in 104, left via the staircase after the fire had been extinguished. “We will definitely make a safety door on our grill now,” said Nisa, scarred from the morning’s events.
The dense smoke travelled right up to the upper floors. Salman Khan from Flat 205 reported that the smoke was so thick outside their doors that they were totally unable to step out. His family was given safe passage through a ladder placed by the fire brigade at their window. “I have two daughters, aged five and seven. My elder daughter was scared and crying, so the fireman had to carry her down. But my younger one was brave and climbed down herself,” he said.
An eight-month-old baby was also carried down by the fire brigade from Room 304. Others, however, stayed in their homes, as the fire had started to wane due to the efforts of the fire brigade, and were helped down the stairs by the firemen.
But another worry had started to bother the residents, namely when the electricity, shut off by their service provider for safety reasons, would be back. While the building society was discussing what arrangements would have to be made to get the meter boxes running, arrangements for water were made from the building next door. Some residents had already left their homes for their relatives’ places, but others planned to stay. “How long can we stay away from our home?” asked Khan.
