Firemen battle blaze, clogged Sobo road

BREACH CANDY With illegal parking on way to nine-storey building, firemen tow cars to reach spot; minor fire turns major

THE BUILDING IS OWNED AND OCCUPIED BY A SINGLE FAMILY OF EIGHT OR NINE MEMBERS, WHO WERE IN THE BUILDING AT THE TIME OF THE FIRE, ALONG WITH THEIR STAFF. THE OCCUPANTS VACATED THE BUILDING AFTER STAFF MEMBERS ALERTED THEM

MUMBAI: A narrow road, coupled with double lane parking, led to a minor fire in nine-storey Dharma Villa housing society at Breach Candy in Mahalaxmi in south Mumbai turning into a major one on Wednesday morning. No casualties were reported.

The fire started on the fourth floor around 12.30am and spread to the top floor in 40 minutes. The fire team had to first tow away the cars to make way for fire engines. The fire was doused at 5.30am.

“The clogged street delayed us by at least 10-12 minutes. Otherwise, we could have curtailed the fire on the fifth or sixth floor,” said a senior fire officer from the team.

The building is owned and occupied by a single family of eight or nine members, who were in the building at the time of the fire, along with their staff. The occupants vacated the building after some members of the staff saw smoke emitting from top floors, and alerted the family members. All rooms of the building had air-conditioners and the windows were closed. So the smoke accumulated inside the building. The fire brigade had to break open the windows. They got on to the neighbouring sixstorey building to control the fire. The building’s fire-fighting system, too, was dysfunctional.

“As the entire building is privately owned, they had used a lot of combustible decorative material coated with fire non-retardant paint. There were alterations to the structure such as a false ceiling.”

Chief fire officer P Rahangdale said, “The fire brigade has served a notice to the owner under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention Act for violating fire safety norms. It has asked the ward office to disconnect electricity and water supply.”

A senior civic officer from the D ward, under whose jurisdiction this area falls, said, “We have called for the building plans and will conduct a site inspection to conclude if the building had any illegal structural alterations.”