Thakurli fire leaves two people on ventilator, two on oxygen

DOMBIVLI: A major fire that broke out in a 15-storey high rise building in Thakurli, Dombivli, on Saturday morning, has left two on ventilator and another two gasping for oxygen.

At 9.20am on Saturday, the meter room of Sarvodaya Hills, located on the 90 feet road in Thakurli, caught fire. However, it was thick smoke that did most of the damage. The fire, officials said, was doused by 10.30am.

Soon after the incident was reported eight firemen and two fire tenders were rushed to the spot to evacuate around 400 plus residents of three wings of the building.

Ten residents comprising five women, two children and three men who inhaled thick smoke released due to fire were taken to the Shastrinagar civic hospital.

Out of the four who were critical, two are on Ventilator, while the other two on oxygen support at the AIMS hospital. They have been identified as Amol Kulkarni,37, his wife Vrushali Kulkarni, 33, Manish Singh, 46 and Megha Singh, 24.

“Both Amol and Vrushali are on ventilator, while Manish and Megha are on oxygen support,” said Manish Panchal, administration manager of AIMS Hospital Dombivli.

Although Amol and his wife are recuperating at the hospital, their seven-year-old son is safe. He was not in the flat at the time of the incident. The Kulkarnis lived on the 11th floor of the building No 2.

Deepa Shukla, chief medical officer at Shastrinagar hospital said, “10 residents were admitted to the hospital complaining of breathing issues and throat ache. They were discharged after treatment.”

Smoke leads to suffocation

Fire officials who reached the spot said that the electric meter box on the ground floor caught fire and it quickly spread through the duct comprising electric wires and reached to the top floor. The entire building was engulfed in thick smoke damaging the main doors of many flats and also entered some flats that led to suffocation.

“Primarily it is suspected that a short circuit in the meter box may have caused the fire. The fire did not spread into the flats. Our team of eight firemen who rushed to the spot evacuated all the residents immediately,” said Dattatreya Shelke, fire officer, Dombivli unit.

Building resident Durgesh Upadhyay, 40, whose wife was rushed to the hospital, said, “My wife was admitted as she faced difficulty in breathing from suffocation. She was put on oxygen and later discharged. Two residents from the building are critical. The smoke entered the flats with such pressure that the main door of some flats was damaged, including mine.”

Upadhyay complained about regular fluctuations in the supply. “The voltage keeps fluctuating and also face power cuts. We have been complaining about the same to the MSEDCL but no action was taken,” he added.

Followed by the incident the officials of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) also visited the building.

A representative of the MSEDCL who did not wish to be named said, “As of now we will be waiting for the fire department to file a report and later take necessary steps.”