‘Firefighting system of Kandivli high-rise was not operational; bldg to get notice’

Two senior citizens had died on Saturday after fire broke out in a flat on the 14th floor of Hansa Heritage building in Kandivli

A day after two people died in the blaze that broke out in the ground-plus-15 Hansa Heritage building in Kandivli (West), the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) has claimed that the structure’s internal firefighting system was not operational at the time of the incident. Owing to the absence of the firefighting system, the blaze that broke out in one of the flats on the 14th floor around 8.30pm, spread rapidly to the floor above too. It was doused after more than three hours.

Water was supplied to the firefighting system only for the first few minutes. Once the pressure ran out, the firefighting system at Hansa Heritage building in Kandivli did not work, said Mumbai Fire Brigade. The authorities will issue a notice to the building. (ANI FILE)

The victims have been identified as Ranjanben Parekh, 90, and Nita Parekh, 64, both of whom were occupants of the 14th floor flat. MFB had rescued five of a family from the 14th floor flat, following the blaze.

Chief fire officer Hemant Parab said, “A notice will be served to the building for not having an operational firefighting system in place. The system was supplied water from an overhead tank. Due to the gravity, water was supplied to the firefighting system only for the first few minutes. Once the pressure ran out, the firefighting system did not work. The blaze was doused using the fire brigade’s machinery only.”

The notice will be served under section 6 of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Act, 2006, which mandates that it the responsibility of the building owner or occupiers to ensure fire safety within the premises.

Saturday’s incident comes two weeks after a massive fire was reported on the 19th floor of the 60-storey Avighna Park in south Mumbai’s Currey Road area, in which one person was killed. Authorities have claimed that the firefighting system of Avighna Park, too, was not functional at the time of the incident.

Mayor Kishori Pednekar, who had visited the building premises in Kandivli on Saturday, said, “According to the information given to me, the fire started owing to a diya kept in the balcony on the 14th floor.”

However, on Sunday the fire brigade said that the cause of the fire will be confirmed after a preliminary inquiry is conducted.

“The five residents rescued by the fire brigade are not in a state to talk, as they are in shock. A team of fire officials visited the spot on Sunday to begin with the preliminary inquiries. The [complete] inquiry will be done after recording eyewitness accounts. This may give us an insight on where the fire originated, how it spread, and what was the exact cause,” Parab said.

He said that MFB personnel who had entered the two-bedroom flat on the 14th floor saw that the curtains and couch in the living room had caught fire. The five family members of the 14th floor flat had locked themselves in a bedroom and opened a window. When the personnel entered the bedroom, the bed had also caught fire, said Parab.

He said, “These five people were rescued from the room. The two elderly women who died were unable to walk owing to their health and thus may not have been able to save themselves.”

Local legislator Yogesh Sagar said, “I spoke to the family and was told that both the victims were bedridden.”

MFB got 159 calls in 1 week

Between November 1 and 6, MFB received 65 calls, wherein fires had broken out owing to crackers, information by the fire brigade revealed. On a whole, MFB had received 159 calls between November 1 and November 6. On November 1 and 2, MFB one call each, informing them of fires owing to crackers, and on November 3, they got four such calls. On the day of Diwali on November 4, MFB had received 33 fire calls related to crackers and a total of 62 calls. The following day, they received 19 calls related to firecrackers, and on November 6, MFB got seven such calls.