Fire brigade prepares notice to Tardeo building for flouting safety rules

Mumbai The Mumbai Fire Brigade was on Tuesday in the process of issuing a notice to Kamla Building in Tardeo for flouting fire safety rules. Seven people were killed and 23 were injured after a fire broke out in the 20-storey building on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the cause and location of the fire remained unascertained. The fire brigade began its preliminary investigation, but officials said many eyewitnesses are in the hospital and some of them are in a critical condition. So, they are not able to record statements to determine what happened that led to the blaze.

Hemant Parab, Chief Fire Officer, said, “We are in the process of drafting the notice and it will be sent by Tuesday itself. The notice will inform the housing society that its firefighting system was not working, and about the other fire safety rules it has flouted. It will direct the society to undertake measures to ensure an operational firefighting system. The society will be penalised as per due process of law.”

The fire erupted on the 19th floor and gutted one flat, the common corridor of this floor, and the electric cables in the entire duct. The fire brigade received a call at 7.26 am, and after firefighters arrived at 7.29 am, they noticed the building’s firefighting system was not operational. Residents later recounted that the fire alarm did not go off and they came to know only after smoke had filled corridors on every floor. Most residents were asleep.

The fire brigade confirmed that the building had not submitted its biannual fire safety audit report, which is called form B. The notice will be issued under Section 6 of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act 2006, which makes it the responsibility of the owners or occupiers of a building to ensure fire safety on the premises, and for its residents. They are also supposed to conduct regular audits of the fire safety mechanism to ensure it is in working condition by third party auditors empaneled with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and submit the form B along with the audit report.

Parab said the fire brigade has still not been able to determine if the fire started in the duct and spread to flat 1904 which was completely gutted, or it broke out in 1904 and spread to the duct. However, the duct should have been sealed with fire retardant material, but it was not done. There were doors to the duct on each floor, but these were open, which catalysed the spread of heat and flames to all 20 floors of the building.

Among the seven who died, one person was rescued from the 16th floor. He had sustained burn and suffocation injuries, which baffled the fire brigade as the blaze was restricted to the 19th floor and the duct on all floors.

Parab said, “It is possible that the person tried to escape through thick smoke and his visibility was hampered. The person must have entered through the first door he found open, which happened to be the duct, that led to his burn injuries. He must have rushed to his own flat in panic, and died of suffocation. This is where we recovered the body. This is the most likely explanation we can think of but investigation is on to determine the events precisely.”