Fire at Scindia House may have gutted I-T files

A massive fire broke out at Scindia House, an office building in the Ballard Estate, Fort, on Friday evening. Eight fire engines, six jumbo water-tankers, and two ambulances were rushed to the spot; five people, who were stranded on the building terrace, were rescued.

Seven people, including a fireman, were sent to St George's Hospital due to excessive inhalation of smoke. Firefighter Jagdish Bachal too got asphyxiated while dousing the fire in a smokefilled room. Prabhat Rahangdale, Chief Fire Officer said, “The officer had to be brought back and taken to a nearby hospital for recuperation.”

The fire was confined to the third and fourth floors of the building that house government offices. It was a level two fire but rose to level three within a few minutes. The building has six storeys.

The fire reportedly broke out around 4:50 pm on the third floor of the building that also houses the office of the Income Tax department. The building also has the debt recovery tribunal office. No casualties were reported in the incident and the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Many raised concerns about precious documents getting destroyed and took to social media to share their responses. “Many files of the income tax department must have been destroyed in the fire,” tweeted CA Gopal Nigam at the incident.

A senior doctor from St George hospital said that all the patients are stable and only one patient has been admitted to Ward 5 of the hospital for observation.