Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The fire safety officer of the IMC, electricity company officials and police officers inspected the Industry House on Thursday to know the reason behind the fire that broke out there on Wednesday. According to initial findings, the fire started from an AC installed in a detective agency on the fourth floor of the building.
However, a detailed report would be given by the electricity company to know the exact reason behind the incident. The office of the agency was closed at the time of the incident and the flames spread to the fifth, sixth and seventh floors.
About 100 people who were in their offices at the time of the fire said they were trapped in the building but fortunately, nobody suffered any injury. DCP (Zone-2) Abhishek Anand informed the Free Press that during the investigation at the spot they were trying to know whether someone was responsible for the fire.
However, we did not find any suspicious activity there, he said. The fire safety officer Vinod Mishra and the officials from the electricity board also inspected the spot. MIG police station in-charge Manish Kumar Lodha informed the Free Press that the reason behind the incident was an electric short circuit due to which the AC caught fire. Later the flames spread and reached the fifth, sixth and seventh floors.
Due to the flames and heavy smoke, the people working in their offices panicked and gathered on the terrace while some of them immediately rushed to safety downstairs. Fire safety officer Vinod Mishra said that the fire NOC of the building was valid.
He said that the flames originated from the AC but the detailed report would be handed over by the electricity company officers about the exact reason behind the incident. From December 2020 a total of 228 fire NOCs have been issued to the commercial establishments in the city said an IMC official and added that we are gathering information about commercial buildings that do not have a fire NOC.
ANANDSHIVRE
Heavy smoke due to papers
Papers kept in the office from where the fire originated led to heavy smoke. As the flames were spreading on the upper floors, it was tough for the employees to breathe in their offices so they rushed to the terrace. Some of them sought help after posting videos on social media. The fire brigade used more than 1 lakh litres of water and rescued the trapped people with the help of the State Disaster Relief Force.
The passersby also helped the teams in rescuing the trapped people. Commissioner of police Rakesh Gupta and collector Asheesh Singh also reached the spot when the fire was raging and gave directives to the subordinates to rescue the people. However, no casualty was reported during the incident. Taking cognisance of the fire, the collector has decided to call a meeting of disaster management officers soon.
All electricity switches turned off by security personnel
The security officer of the building informed the officials that soon after noticing fire and flames on the fourth floor of the building he and other employees informed the fire brigade and turned off the electricity supply immediately. The security officer was not able to provide any answers to questions by the officers about the fire safety system. He was not even able to tell whether he or other employees knew how to use the fire safety system during an emergency. On Thursday, all offices of the building were closed. When the officials were inspecting the building water was spread on the floors.
Fire breaks out again
Fire again broke out in an office on the sixth floor of the Industry House on Thursday morning. After noticing flames from the building, the people informed the fire brigade around 9.15 am. According to a fire brigade officer, there was smoke from the documents kept in an office. The officials reached there and used more than 5,000 litres of water and controlled the smoke. It was believed that the fire may not have been completely doused off on Wednesday night due to which the documents again caught fire. However, no one was in the building. The firefighters stayed there for more than an hour.
