Marvel Vista building’s firefighting system wasn’t working: Fire brigade dept

As per the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, the building owner should have submitted bi-annual fire safety certificate to the fire brigade

The firefighting system of Marvel Vista’s building, where a massive blaze broke out at the rooftop restaurant on Tuesday morning, was not operational at the time of the incident, according to Pune’s fire department officials. Firemen said that it was a major reason for fire spreading to a large area.

A massive fire broke out on the rooftop of a restaurant named ‘Vegeta’ in Lulla Nagar area of Pune on Tuesday. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

Locals said they did not hear the fire alarm when the blaze broke.

The first information about the fire was received at 8:14 am and seven water tenders and 40 firemen reached the spot. It took more than 45 minutes to bring the fire under control, and more than an hour to douse it, said fire brigade officials.

Devendra Potphode, chief fire officer, Pune fire brigade said, “The internal firefighting system of the building was not working.”

As per the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, the building owner should have submitted bi-annual fire safety certificate to the fire brigade.

“It is the responsibility of builder or society to maintain their firefighting system in working condition. They have to get it certified from agencies and submit it to us. It was their negligence that caused the fire to spread to the entire floor,” said Potphode.

Fire brigade officials said that it was a difficult task for them to pump water from water tender to the seventh floor and an operational firefighting system of the building would have helped. The floor was smoke logged with fumes spreading through the building due to a duct running along the length of the building.

Fire brigade department removed eight LPG cylinders from the floor to avoid further spread of fire.

Nilesh Mahajan, Pune fire brigade department spokesperson said, “Fortunately, no injury and causality were reported due to the incident.”

Deepak Lagad, senior inspector, Wanowrie police station, said, “We have not registered any case as no casualty was reported. Our team is investigating if any rule was flouted and will file a case if needed.”

Fire brigade officials said that initial probe found that the blaze broke out due to a short circuit.