Duplex in Grant Road bldg gutted in fire; no deaths

The fire brigade then prepared a fire engine line through the staircase and started fire-fighting on the 12th floor where the fire had started and spread to the duplex flat on the 13th floor. The duplex flat, that belonged to Ghevarchand Jain

Mumbai: A fire broke out on the 12th and 13th floors of a high-rise building near Grant Road on Friday, gutting down the duplex flat of the 21-storey building whose residents came out unscathed. The fire was declared level 2 (moderate danger) by the Mumbai fire brigade.

Mumbai, India - Nov. 17, 2023:A duplex flat in a high rise on Grant Road was completely gutted down and a level 2 fire was declared by Fire Officials at Grant Road, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, November 17, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Prima facie, the fire officials said that a short circuit in the air-conditioner was the cause of the fire. The incident was reported from the Dhavalgiri building on August Kranti Road at Kapaswadi.

The fire brigade reached on time but the removal of cars to accommodate the turntable ladder consumed some time in the fire-fighting operations and posed a challenge.

A station officer on duty said, “We received a call at 9.29am and we reached within two minutes. The fire had engulfed the 12th floor in flat number 1201, and one could see flames and smoke emanating from it. We then used our turntable ladder and there was no space to park it in the right position as it consumes a lot of space. So, a little time was invested in that.”

The fire brigade then prepared a fire engine line through the staircase and started fire-fighting on the 12th floor where the fire had started and spread to the duplex flat on the 13th floor. The duplex flat, that belonged to Ghevarchand Jain, was occupied by only one family member on the 13th floor and two house helps on the 12th floor who had escaped the wrath of the blaze.

“We then alerted people on the lower floors who were not aware that there was a fire and told them to go down,” he said.

On the 14th floor was a senior citizen who was rescued and brought to the 11th floor in the refuge area.

“We carried her downstairs. On the 15th floor were three males and two senior citizen females stranded but by then the fire brigade asked them to wait in their flats,” said the fire official.

Later on the 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th and 21st floors, seven men and one woman were also rescued and sent to the terrace through the staircase. After the situation was safe, they were brought down.

A total of 14 people were rescued.

The alternate electric supply from the building was used for the staircase light, passage, lift and fire pump built into the system.

“In flat 1201 on the 12th floor, the maid and a cook saw sparking and smoke coming out from the split AC. They escaped. On the 13th floor was a 40-year-old man who also escaped,” said the fire official.

It took approximately two hours for the fire brigade to douse the fire. Bipin Mehta, chairman of Dhavalgiri Society and resident of a neighbouring flat on the 13th floor where the fire spread said, “The fire broke out at 9.45am and there were flames around and one couldn’t see anything. We called the fire brigade. My 94-year-old fell down, and we brought him downstairs.”

Mehta said the fire brigade couldn’t enter inside as vehicles were parked. “The cars had to be removed first and only then could they begin fire operations. The duplex flat is gutted,” said Mehta.