A flat in tower 8 of La Residentia high-rise society in Noida extension caught fire on Friday afternoon around 12:30 pm. While alleging that the fire safety equipment of the tower wasn't functionong, the residents blamed the builder for the accident.
The residents claimed that the fire department reached the spot forty minutes after being apprised of the incident. Although the actual reason of the fire remains unknown, they think that it may have been caused due to short circuit.
The owner of the flat, Kamal Kant Bahuguna was in office when the incident occurred and was informed about it by his neighbours.
Sharad Pandey, a resident of the society said that the apartment was locked and almost all the furniture was burnt. As the fire department took a considerable time to reach the spot, residents and the maintenance team used water pipes to douse the fire.
“Upon reaching the society, the fire department officer checked the safety devices available in tower 8. However, neither the fire safety equipment nor the fire alarm were functioning at that time”, Pandey said.
Pandey said that he saw smoke billowing from flat number 104 of tower 8, which is situated on the first floor. He further claimed that as the curtains caught fire, he alerted the society’s security guard to control the situation.
SN Yadav, fire officer of the area said that the cause of the incident is still unknown.
“I am going to issue a notice to the builder to be present at the society on Saturday. I will check the fire fighting system of the whole society in his presence. Through the notice we are also giving him fifteen days time to rectify the problem,” Yadav said.
Yadav further added that if the developer didn’t repair the fire fighting system he will file a case against him.
