Kerosene storage fuelled Chembur fire

The final report submitted by Mumbai Fire Brigade on the Chembur fire, which claimed the lives of seven members of a family at Siddharth Nagar on October 6, reveals that a diya in the ground-floor kirana store toppled, quickly igniting a massive fire, as 20 litre of kerosene was stored in the room

MUMBAI: The final report submitted by Mumbai Fire Brigade on the Chembur fire, which claimed the lives of seven members of a family at Siddharth Nagar on October 6, reveals that a diya in the ground-floor kirana (grocery) store toppled, quickly igniting a massive fire, as 20 litre of kerosene was stored in the room.

Kerosene storage fuelled Chembur fire

Ravindra Ambulgekar, chief fire officer, told HT, “The burning diya toppled in the grocery store, and the blaze spread through the stored kerosene. The owner had a 1975 license from the ration office for basic kerosene storage, with around 15-20 litres stored, which fuelled the fire in the grocery store.”

A civic official noted that, from the BMC’s perspective, the kerosene was illegally stored since the owner lacked the necessary permissions from the civic body. Ambulgekar added, “In such cramped ground-plus-two chawl structures, we do not permit the storage of inflammable liquids.”

Store owner Chediram Gupta (70) told Mumbai fire brigade that he had a license from 1975 to operate a ration store, permitting him to store and sell kerosene, Ambulgekar said.

The fire killed Gupta’s wife Gitadevi, his son Prem, daughters-in-law Manju and Anita, and three grandchildren - Presi, Vidhi, and Narendra. On October 7, HT had reported that the diya and the large amount of stored kerosene were likely the primary causes of the blaze.

Ambulgekar added that the firefighting efforts were hindered by the lack of space to enter the building. “This delayed the operation.”