Mumbai: The Lake Lucerne fire would have proved deadlier had firefighters not managed to unlock a gate that leads to the building's terrace. As a result, 22 people, who would have been trapped at the gate, were saved.
The fire brigade suggested that one should not lock the terrace door. Seven persons died and 28 were injured after fire broke out in a 14th floor flat of Lake Lucerne building in Chandivli on Saturday.
The fire brigade held a review meeting on Monday on the Chandivli building fire. Several key conclusions were reached. The first was that an open duct along the length of the building helped the spread of fire from the 14th floor, where it started, to other floors. On the ground floor, a car parked near the duct's opening caught fire. Because of the duct, heavy smoke was generated on all floors, impeding the path of firemen.
A second conclusion was that access paths were blocked. The building's residents reached the door of the terrace to escape, but found it locked. Firefighters reached the terrace of an adjoining wing of the building to reach the affected wing's terrace, but like the residents on the other side, found the door locked. A security guard came with the key, but deterred by thick smoke, threw the key and fled. A fire officer found it, unlocked the door, and rescued the trapped people.
By then many had inhaled smoke and had to be hospitalised.
The fire brigade also found other anomalies. Vehicles were parked improperly in the building compound, hindering the movement of the fire brigade. Several minutes were lost in trying to clear space for the cherry picker.
"The fire brigade left the fire station within the stipulated period of time. The first delay was cause by hindrance from traffic on the roads," said a fire official. "After reaching the building, residents started arguing with us on several matters, but mainly on the issue of removal of their vehicles. This just should not have happened. The fire brigade has expertise in managing fires and should be allowed to go about their work unhindered."
The preliminary report about the incident is expected by Thursday.
Indians have a long way to go: B'lore safety group
Beyond Carlton, a movement begun by the families of victims of the 2010 Carlton Towers fire in Bangalore, has offered condolences to families who lost loved ones in the Powai fire. A Beyond Carlton member said most people in the country are not aware of simple fire safety precautions. Even basic precautions like not to use lifts when fire breaks out are not taken, not to speak of large-scale fire-safety violations in buildings. The group, possibly the country's only consistent citizens body on fire safety, seeks systemic changes in local laws, ways to implement fire-safety mechanisms and running fire-safety awareness programmes. "Beyond Carlton has in the last five years worked on a citizens' perspective on fire safety and this is something we want to share with the people of Mumbai. Most fire safety issues are similar across India and so it's time we made fire safety a national movement," said the group's managing trustee Uday Vijayan.
TIMES VIEW:
Every fire sees a post-mortem by the fire brigade and a slew of charges against it from witnesses and victims. This is natural.But what is not acceptable is authorities sleeping over the post-mortem report.What we have said before bears iteration: there is no use setting up "expert committees" and probe incidents if the reports and recommendations are not followed by remedial action.
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