Palam fire: 1st ladder too short, 2nd was too late

Nine people were killed and three people were seriously injured in the fire.

New Delhi: As the fire inched closer and smoke enveloped them, at least six members of a family who were killed in a fire at four-storey building in Palam Colony, southwest Delhi, spent an agonising 90 minutes pleading for rescue from the third floor, before collapsing. While the cause of the fire has yet to be established, concerns have been raised over the fire department’s response time.

Firefighters attempt to douse a massive fire that gutted a building in Sadh Nagar near Palam in New Delhi on Wednesday. (HT_PRINT)

palam fire gfx

Nine people were killed and three people were seriously injured in the fire. Lado Kashyap (70) and her daughter, Himanshi (22) were killed on the second floor. Her son, Sachin (28), who was also on the second floor, managed to save himself by dashing up to the terrace and then jumping to the terrace of the adjacent building.

32-year-old Anil and his one-year-old daughter Mitali, who were also with them, sustained fractures and head injuries as they fell from the third floor balcony while firefighters were trying to rescue them using a ladder.

According to eyewitnesses and fire officials, the blaze erupted at the residential-cum commercial building at Ram Chowk Market, Sadh Nagar, around 6:30 am and a call to the fire department was made around 7am.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a fire operator — who was a part of the operation — said that they reached around 7:15am from Dwarka sector 6 fire station which is nearly 3.8km away from where the fire broke out. At 7:01am, information was also relayed to Hari Nagar and Janakpuri fire stations from where subsequent fire units were sent.

“When we reached, we could see massive fire on the ground floor and basement. The flames eventually reached the upper floors,” the firefighter said.

He said that they could hear and see the family members shouting and crying in the balcony on the third floor. “We told them not to jump and that we were trying to rescue them,” he said.

However, until 8:30am, the residents on the third floor waited to be rescued as the operation was marred by lack of proper equipment.

The firefighter quoted above said that the ladder installed on a standard fire tender is 42 metres long — two sections of 21m each overlapping on one another. However, when opened, it can only go up to 30m, which, in this case, only reached up till the second floor. “Due to this reason, it could not reach the third floor,” the official said.

As a result a bronto hydraulic ladder —a truck-mounted aerial platform that is generally required for high-rises — was also sent from Dwarka sector 6 fire station, the official said.

It took about eight minutes — after the information was shared — to ready the ladder and then some more time to reach the location and be parked near the house. “It then took some time to adjust it in a way that it could safely be used to rescue people,” said the official quoted above.

According to next-door neighbour Mohit Kumar, 27, said that he, and other neighbours, witnessed nine family members standing on the third-floor balcony, shouting and crying for help. “Three fire tenders had reached by around 7:15am but their ladder wasn’t able to reach the third floor where the family was stuck,” he said.

Once the rescue began on the third floor, “Anil first tried to hand over the child (Mitali) to a firefighter standing on the ladder but because of smoke, he couldn’t see the firefighter clearly and gave the child in the wrong direction due to which the child fell on the road,” the official quoted above said. Mitali is undergoing treatment at a city hospital.

Then, Anil tried to climb on to the ladder but he slipped while climbing down and fell on the fire tender itself.

By this time, it was around 8:30am and the rest of the six had started collapsing.

Mohit said fire officials had asked locals to stay away from the spot and so they could not participate in the rescue.

“They didn’t have proper equipment to save people. There was in fact a tent house close by and we could have got some mattresses and asked them to jump but there was no space to do that,” he said.

Defending the delay in rescue, fire officials said that congested lanes, parked cars, overhead wires and toughened glass installed in the main building were among the challenges they faced at the time.

Only two functional bronto trucks

Fire officials said that, with the fire being in a residential building not considered high rise, the Delhi Fire Services had initially only deployed turn table ladders.

An official from the office of A Nedunchezhiyan, principal director, DFS, said, “It takes time to park a bronto, install it in place, and then take out the ladder carefully so it can be propelled at a certain height...The bronto was used to douse fire and bring out the first casualty.”

DFS said they only have two functional Bronto trucks in all of Delhi at the present. The first official quoted above said, “A third one stopped working recently because its smart card was burnt. In 2020-21, we did have four such Brontos across Delhi but these expire after 10 years of use.”

Another major issue is that a bronto, which has a ladder of up to 42m, can’t be repaired in India. We import these from Finland and repairs and sales are handled by a company there. “We have placed an order for one bronto but it will take time. The permissions, checking of budgets and customisation. Since the driver’s seat is on the left side there, they change it for us,” said the officer.

DFS said that they have two working brontos, one turn table ladder and seven articulated water tower. “The turn table ladder is also imported from Germany and it takes time to order these as well. The TTL can work at a height of around 32m. For buildings that are high rise, 15m and above, we usually call for the water tower which can work at a height of 55m as well. In Palam’s case, no tower was needed and bronto was called,” he added.

Abhilash Kumar Malik, deputy chief fire officer, said “Our staff was trying to douse the fire and also reach the family members. We worked using both brontos and other fire engines.”