Tragedy was averted on Wednesday afternoon when a pet dog’s furious barking alerted an elderly woman and her neighbours of a fire that had broken out in an apartment at Electronics City. The dog’s incessant barking roused other residents to investigate, and everyone evacuated their apartments safely before the fire could spread. No injuries were reported.
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Around 2.46 p.m. on Wednesday, the fire broke out in a first floor apartment of the three-storeyed residential complex situated in Sampige Nagar, Electronics City Phase II. Cardiac patient, 74-year-old Kathyayini, was alone in the apartment with the dog while the rest of her family members had gone to work.
When the dog did not stop barking in the afternoon, neighbours decided to investigate. “They saw smoke billowing out of Ms. Kathyayini’s apartment and got her out to safety,” said a fire official.
Meanwhile two youths, working as delivery personnel, were passing by the area and saw flames and smoke billowing out of the window. They immediately alerted the fire control room.
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Two fire tenders arrived at the spot at around 2.55 p.m. By then, all residents in the complex, which has 106 flats, were safely out of the building. “We managed to contain the fire, and luckily no one was hurt,” said Nagesh P.M., district fire officer, Electronics City.
He added that they suspect the fire was the result of a short circuit, but are waiting for the report. “A team from the Forensic Science Laboratory and electrical inspectorate visited the spot and conducted a probe,” he added.
Had the dog not sounded the alert, it could have ended in tragedy. In September, a mother and her daughter were killed in a blaze when they were trapped in their apartment in a residential complex in Devarachikkanahalli near Bannerghatta Road. Despite the efforts of other family members and fire personnel they could not be saved.