One person died and five others were injured when a fire broke out in a commercial building in Grant Road early on Sunday. The incident, which occurred just days before Deepawali, caused heavy losses to the electronic shops in Aditya Arcade near Lamington Road, as most goods were damaged in the fire.
The blaze broke out in the electric duct of the ground-plus-five storey building at 5.45 a.m. While the flames were confined to the ground and first floors, heat and smoke engulfed the building. There was an explosion in one of the air conditioning units, but it could not be ascertained if it caused the fire.
The fire brigade arrived at 6.15 a.m. and declared it a level IV (major) call, with the chief fire officer turning up. Sixteen fire engines, 10 jumbo tankers and 150 personnel were mobilised to get the blaze under control. Around 10 people were rescued, two of whom climbed down from the terrace to the second floor using the building’s water pipe.
“We were sleeping on the terrace when the fire broke out. There were six other people on the other side of the terrace but there was too much smoke to identify or help anyone. We were panicking and used the water pipe to escape,” Ramaram Meghwal, who works in the building, said.
Uttam Meghwal (22), another worker, was initially missing but firemen found him in the common passage near the staircase on the third floor and took him to Nair Hospital. “The patient had succumbed on the site and was brought dead,” Nair hospital dean Dr. Ramesh Bharmal said. The fire brigade believes he got trapped while trying to escape.
Dilip Chaudhary (40), Ashok Chaudhary (23) and Bharat Chaudhary (23) were sent to JJ Hospital for suffocation, but are stable now. Firemen Sudan Gore, who also suffered asphyxiation, and Nandakumar Shankar Wayal, who sustained cut injuries, were sent to Nair Hospital and discharged after treatment. The deceased Meghwal’s body was taken to his village in Rajasthan.
“When I heard a blast, I thought people were bursting crackers to celebrate Kojagiri Poornima. We realized later that the glass of the building had shattered and a fire had broken out, and rushed to help those stuck,” Prashant Pednekar, resident of a neighbouring building, said.
“The second and third floors were residential flats earlier but the owner, Ashok Singhvi, later converted and rented them for commercial use,” Ajit Sawant, who lives across the road, said.
Aditya Arcade is less than two decades old and was constructed after demolishing two bungalows. The building mostly houses electronic shops and its mezzanine, which was stocked with goods, suffered the most damage.
The building did not have any firefighting equipment apart from extinguishers. The fire brigade will be seeking details on its fire NOC and compliance certificate as several of its passages and fire exits were encroached upon.
