95-year-old woman dead after fire breaks out at her flat in Vile Parle

While the cause of the fire was not known yet, a fire brigade official said the electric wiring, electric installation, TV, refrigerator, wooden furniture, wooden doors, false ceiling, household articles, food articles, and more in the flat were burned to scorch

Mumbai: On the occasion of Dhanteras on Friday, Pathak family that resided at Vile Grand Residency Building in Vile Parle East decided to visit a temple, leaving their elderly family member 95-year-old Harshada Janardan Pathak at home. Harshada, who could not walk by herself, and is usually surrounded by someone in the family was killed when a deadly fire erupted around 7.27pm in their second-floor flat on the ground plus 12-floor building. Harshada was declared brought dead by doctors at Cooper Hospital. Her postmortem is scheduled for Saturday, after which the last rites will be carried out.

Mumbai, India - Nov 10, 2023 : Fire broken out at Vile Grand Residency Build, Vile Parle in Mumbai, India, Friday, Nov 10, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

While the cause of the fire was not known yet, a fire brigade official said the electric wiring, electric installation, TV, refrigerator, wooden furniture, wooden doors, false ceiling, household articles, food articles, and more in the flat were burned to scorch. More than 70% of the house was burnt in which the 95-year-old lived with her daughter, son-in-law, her son, daughter-in-law and their son.

“Everything in the house is charred,” said an extended family member who did not wish to be identified. “I live nearby, so we all came when the neighbours gave us a call. But by the time we arrived, the fire was extinguished.”

The fire was extinguished by 8:03pm. One small hose line of 3 motor pumps was used. In the chaos and noise, the residents were not sure if a fire alarm had gone off.

Some part of the fire had travelled to the third floor, but affected only the outside of it, said the fire officer. The residents of the second, third and fourth floors tried to leave but could not because of the smoke. All the building’s residents were evacuated safely down the stairs after the fire was extinguished.

“We didn’t realise there was a fire until people started screaming from down and calling,” said an eleventh-floor resident who did not want to give her name. “But there was smoke outside so we didn’t go down. My dog was also very scared, so I didn’t dare venture out. They let us down after the fire was extinguished.”

Nitin Dicholkar, a functionary of Shiv Sena UBT said, “We reached very quickly after the fire started. It had spread to three storeys and many on the higher floors were trapped. There was panic and the fire brigade had sent 15 tenders, tankers and aerial ladder platforms. The electric supply has been cut off and most residents are waiting down. I am told that the curtains of a flat caught fire due to oil lamps kept on Diwali eve.”

With the electricity disconnected after the fire in the night, many residents of the building still mulled downstairs. They faced the option of going to a family or friend’s place for the night, or sleeping in a flat without any electricity.

A resident on the seventh floor, Sudhakar Sabnis, said, “My wife and son were at home, but they couldn’t get out because of the smoke. They are completely fine now. We will spend the next few days at my other son’s house in Vasai.”

The watchman of the building said that when he came to know of the fire, he immediately tried to put the building’s fire system to use. “There’s a fire extinguisher at every floor and a water hose too. I don’t know if the fire alarm rang because of the chaos at the time.”

-With input from Yogesh Naik