Fire breaks out at rooftop office on Bhandarkar Road in Pune, no casualty

Fire broke out at a commercial building on Bhandarkar Road, Pune. No casualties reported as fire department controlled it within 20 minutes.

Fire broke out at the rooftop office in the seven-storeyed Karan Sohel building (commercial) on Bhandarkar Road Wednesday afternoon. However, there were no casualties as the fire brigade department brought the fire under control within 20 minutes.

The PMC was carrying out its anti-encroachment drive at Karan Sohel building when the fire broke out at the rooftop office of that building on W (HT PHOTO)

Fire brigade department head Devendra Potfode said, “Fire broke out on the terrace where an office had been erected using tin sheds etc.”

It is learned that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on the same day (Wednesday) had undertaken an anti-encroachment drive at Kothrud and Karve Nagar wherein it removed/razed illegal structures erected on rooftops. Apparently, the PMC was carrying out its anti-encroachment drive at Karan Sohel building when the fire broke out at the rooftop office of that building.

Potfode said, “While the PMC drive was in progress, only workers (none of the office staff) were there. The premises had been vacated. The fire might have broken out while cutting the steel rods after the primary inspection. We got a call no sooner than the fire broke out.”

“As we got the call immediately, it helped us depute three fire tenders to the spot within a few minutes. The fire department extinguished the fire in 20 minutes without letting it spread to the other floors. There was no casualty or injury,” Potfode said.