A major fire broke out in a flat on the 12th floor of VVIP Addresses, a high-rise in Rajnagar Extension of Ghaziabad, on Wednesday night. Nobody was injured in the fire, however, furniture and electrical appliances were gutted.
Fire officials said an electronic short circuit sparked the fire in one of the bedrooms, which soon turned into a blaze and spread across the entire house.
Nobody was present in the flat at the time the fire broke out.
Amar Pal, the owner of the flat, said he and his wife had gone out of the house for 15-20 minutes when the incident happened. “When I returned, I saw my neighbours had gathered outside my flat. They had tried calling me but we couldn’t speak. One of them had called the police who had informed fire brigade,” Pal added.
He further added that the key broke while opening the main door of the flat causing added damage. “The key got stuck in the lock. In my hurry to unlock the door, I broke the key. Residents arranged a hammer and broke the lock of the gate,” he added.
Pal also claimed that the firefighting equipment installed in the society did not work initially, which further invigorated the fire.
“Both water sprinklers and fire hydrants were not working initially. However, after half an hour, one of the fire hydrants started working which helped the fire officials in dousing the fire,” he added.
“I have incurred a huge loss of about Rs 8 lakhs in the incident. All my furniture, TV, refrigerator and other electrical appliances have been damaged,” Pal said.
Pal also alleged that the fire brigade arrived an hour after being informed. However, chief fire officer Sunil Kumar Singh said that they had reached the society within 20 minutes of receiving the information.
Meanwhile, Madan Tyagi, secretary of VVIP Addresses, refused to comment on Pal’s allegation about dysfunctional firefighting equipment. He said that the management of the society would analyze if anything went wrong during the incident.
Tyagi also doubted if the short circuit perpetrated the fire. “Miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) have been installed in each flat to control such mishaps.”
