Fire brigade to investigate Notan Villa fire, to issue notice for flouting safety norms

Mumbai: The Mumbai fire brigade (MFB) will conduct a thorough investigation to check what factors led to the fire incident at the 7-storey Notan Villa in Khar on Saturday

Mumbai: The Mumbai fire brigade (MFB) will conduct a thorough investigation to check what factors led to the fire incident at the 7-storey Notan Villa in Khar on Saturday. This was the second fire incident reported from the building within a week, and the third one in eight months.

Mumbai, India - April 21, 2022: Fire-fighting operation underway after a Level-2 fire broke out with no casualties on the fourth floor of a ground-plus-seven storey Notan Villa Building, Khar (West), in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, April 21, 2022. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

Saturday’s fire was reported between the third and fourth floor of the building and the fire brigade rescued four people using turntable ladders. After this, the electricity supply to the building was shut down.

Chief fire officer Hemant Parab said, “Saturday’s fire has baffled us, as there is no electricity supply in the building, and there is no one occupying the property at present, apart from some security guards privately hired by the family. An investigation to check for the cause of fire will be done following which a notice will be issued to the building after the investigation is complete.”

The notice will be for violating fire-safety measures, and a non-operational firefighting system.

In September last year, a major fire was reported at Notan Villa, claiming one life of a 40-year-old Hema Jagwani, due to suffocation after being trapped on the top-most floor of the building. Following this, the Mumbai fire brigade had issued a notice to the owners of the building for non-compliance with fire safety measures.

Parab said, “The owners complied with fire safety measures following the notice from us in September last year, but did not maintain the firefighting system. In light of this, in less than eight months, another fire was reported in the building last week.”