fire broke out in a commercial complex next to the naval dockyard in Fort on Thursday morning, and raged on for around six hours before it could be brought under control. The occupants of the building were evacuated in a joint operation by the Fire Brigade and the Navy, and no casualties were reported.
According to officials, the fire broke out around 9 am in the office of an insurance company on the third floor of the Hari Chambers building outside the naval dockyard complex.
“There seems to have been some fault with the air conditioning unit in the office, which led to the fire. There was initially a burst of smoke from the unit, due to which all the occupants of the office ran out, followed by others in the building. The fire intensified after that,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Manoj Kumar Sharma, Zone I.
Information about the fire was conveyed to the Mumbai Police control room and relayed to the Fire Brigade, and eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot.
“The fire tenders were sent from the Colaba fire station, which is around ten minutes away, and were able to reach quickly as there was not much traffic in the area at the time,” Mr Sharma added.
While the Fire Brigade was trying to bring the flames under control, the employees of the insurance company realised that one of them was missing. Officials soon found out that the missing person, a young man in his twenties, had rushed to the terrace of the building instead of exiting when the fire started, and was stuck on the terrace. The Fire Brigade sent a ladder up to the terrace and rescued him unhurt.
Meanwhile, the Navy also sent a team of eight personnel armed with equipment, including a thermal imaging camera. The team entered the building to ensure no one was stuck inside.
“A Naval Dockyard team provided assistance in cutting of grills for providing access to the firemen. The fire brigade was also helped by the Dockyard by refilling water for fire-fighting,” a Defence spokesperson said.
Fire officials said that the fire was contained to the office of the insurance company, and the situation was brought under control late on Thursday afternoon. The MRA Marg police, under whose jurisdiction the building falls, are now finding out whether there was any negligence on the part of the company. “We need to find out whether the air conditioning unit was properly serviced and maintained, and whether there was any lapse that could have led to the fire,” said an officer with the MRA Marg police.
