Fire damages Gurugram court complex, part of building collapses

Officials said paper records fuelled the fire while cooling operations and damage assessment continued late into Sunday.

A fire broke out at the Gurugram district court complex on Sunday morning, damaging a portion of the lower court building and triggering panic after part of the structure collapsed during firefighting operations, officials said.

Firefighters faced difficulties controlling the blaze due to heavy storage of documents inside the lower court premises. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

According to fire department officials, the blaze was first noticed in the record room of the lower court premises, where thick smoke and flames were seen rising early in the morning. Lawyers passing through the complex alerted the fire department and court security staff around 10am, officials said.

Initially, three fire tenders were rushed to the spot, but as the fire spread within the building, additional engines were deployed. By afternoon, nearly 20 fire tenders from across Gurugram were engaged in the operation.

Officials said firefighters faced difficulties due to the large volume of paper records stored inside the record room. The blaze spread to the lower ground and ground floor of the building and was brought under control after nearly six hours. Fire teams remained stationed at the site after a portion of the affected structure collapsed during operations. “Since it was a Sunday, there weren’t many lawyers and staff present on the court premises. No injuries have been reported,” said the Sector 29 fire station officer Narendra Yadav.

Officials said the extent of damage to court records and infrastructure has not yet been assessed as cooling operations are still underway at the site. Officials said the fire department is investigating whether the building complied with prescribed fire safety norms.

Police cordoned off the area following the partial collapse and restricted public movement inside parts of the court complex as a precautionary measure. Fire department officials said the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be determined, though a short circuit is suspected.

“A detailed inspection will be conducted after the fire is fully controlled. Only then will we be able to assess how much of the record has been damaged and whether any documents could be salvaged,” Yadav said.

Authorities said a search and assessment operation would begin after cooling operations are completed. The Gurugram district court complex had witnessed a similar incident in November 2022, when a suspected short circuit triggered a fire in a lawyers’ chamber that spread to seven adjoining portable cabins, gutting multiple chambers. No casualties were reported then, but lawyers had raised concerns over fire safety preparedness and infrastructure conditions within the complex.