After almost 24 hours of battling the flames, firefighters were finally able to completely douse the fire that started at the Times of India building in ITO’s Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg on Sunday evening.
The fire, which started from the first floor of the national daily’s office, spread through the entire building around 4:45p.m. on Sunday. Though fire personnel said that it was a low intensity fire, lack of proper entrance points and high use of plywood made it difficult to contain the blaze in the building. The fire was brought under control by 5p.m. on Monday.
Fresh sparks
“The operation lasted exactly a day. By Sunday night we had controlled the fire and were cooling the building when sparks started again around 12p.m. on Monday. The cooling process is still on,” a senior fire official, who was heading the operation, told The Hindu.
The official said that a lot of time was wasted in trying to figure out a passage to enter the building. “The area that was affected by the fire was vast and we could not find a way to enter the building. Another challenge was getting the fire tenders near the building. On Monday we had advised all the parking lot owners to avoid parking on the service lane so that tenders could enter easily,” another firefighter said.
Cracks in building
Around 40 fire tenders were pressed into action for the operation. Along with fire personnel, and the police, civil defence volunteers were also present at the spot to clear passage for fire tenders.
Officials said that by the end of the rescue operation, the building had developed several cracks, because of which it has been deemed unsafe for people. “In the evening we had cordoned off the road in front of the building. We were not allowing people to cross because we were afraid that the building might crumble down,” the official said.
