Mumbai: Blaze on Dadar tower’s 42nd floor gives firefighters headache

The blaze was extinguished at 3.50 am on Friday. Pic/Atul Kamble

The fire brigade had a tough time dousing a blaze which broke out on the 42nd floor of a 44-storey residential tower at Dadar East on Thursday night.

As the building's firefighting system wasn't in working condition, and their 90-metre-high ladder couldn't be used due to high-velocity winds, firemen climbed all the way to the flat with a hose to put out the flames. The fire broke out in a closed room around 8.30 pm in the R A Residences building, which is situated in front of Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya on BA Road.

Initially, the blaze was declared a level-2 fire. "The fire was confined to an electric panel. Six fire engines along with four jumbo tankers and a 90-metre-high turntable ladder were sent to the spot," said a fire official. However, due to the aforementioned challenges, the blaze was declared a level-4 fire at 11.10 pm.

The chief fire officer, two deputy chief fire officers, three deputy fire officers and four additional deputy fire officers were at the site. The fire was brought under control at around 1 am and was finally extinguished at 3.50 am.

The fire broke out on the 42nd floor of the 44-storey tower

"The ladder could not be used due to high-wind speed. We had one-high pressure van where a pipe can go up to 60 floors up. But it was only one line and not sufficient to douse the fire as the surrounding area was also heated. So our firemen carried four portable pumps weighing 100 kg each to the fifth, 10th, 20th and 30th floors. We needed extra manpower for this and so we declared the fire a level-4 one.

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If there was a working system, the fire could have been doused with level-1 or 2 arrangements and within a short duration," said Sanjay Manjrekar, chief fire officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade. The building is comparatively new and hasn't been occupied fully. The complex comprises two grand towers housing 200 residential units with three, four or five BHK flats ranging from 1,763 to 6,000 square feet in area. The flat where the fire broke out has an area of about 2,500 to 3,000 square feet.

"The fire started in one of the bedrooms and entered the middle passage. The fire started due to a short circuit, as per the testimony of the flat occupier, but an inspection is still going on. There were six people in the flat. They tried to douse the fire with extinguishers but failed. They went down. No one was injured," said a fire brigade officer.

The fire brigade will send a notice to the society. As per the Fire Act, a fire audit of a building must be carried out at six-month intervals. mid-day visited the spot and tried to contact office-bearers but security personnel refused to share any contacts.

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Day in January when fire broke out