New Delhi: Firefighters rescued five people trapped inside a four-storey building in north Delhi’s Pitampura after a fire was reported in the basement of the building.
Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said while all occupants of the building were rescued safely, a firefighter suffered cuts to his arm while entering the building.
One elderly woman was rescued from the building’s basement, four others were saved after firefighters accessed the building from an adjoining house, said Atul Garg, director, Delhi Fire Services.
The fire began in an air-conditioner installed inside a an acupuncture clinic located in the basement of the building. The other three storeys are residential.
“We received a call about fire in the air-conditioning of the clinic in the basement at 11.07am. We sent two fire tenders initially,” said Chandraprakash Singh, sub-officer of DFS, who led the operation.
“When we reached there, we found the basement up in flames and smoke having engulfed the upper floors. While two staffers of the clinic managed to escape, we had to enter the basement to rescue an elderly woman,” said Singh.
The blaze spread quickly after a wooden cabin in the basement caught fire, said Singh.
{{/usCountry}}The blaze spread quickly after a wooden cabin in the basement caught fire, said Singh.
{{/usCountry}}At the same time, the firefighters noticed two women and two girls of a family stranded in the balcony of the top floor. “They couldn’t escape either through the staircase or the terrace due to the dense smoke in the building’s common area. So, we accessed the terrace by climbing the adjacent building,” said the fire officer.
The four women on the top floor were safely rescued in the operation that lasted 90 minutes and required five fire tenders, said the officer, adding that a leading fireman, Surender, suffered cuts to his hand in the operation.
“He has received stitches and is out of danger,” he said.
The police are still investigating the circumstances of the blaze. They were yet to decide on registering a case.