Gurgaon: Fire breaks out at a house in DLF Phase-2, assets worth lakhs destroyed

Assets worth lakhs and other valuable items were gutted by the fire

A major fire broke out late Sunday night at a house in DLF phase 2 that destroyed assets worth between ₹15 to ₹ 20 lakh, said the owner in statement to the police.

The house owner said the firefighters did not respond in time, but the department denied the claim. (HT PHOTO)

The owner claimed that the fire fighters did not reach the spot on time, as a prompt response would have helped limit the damage. Short circuit has been cited as the preliminary cause of the fire but exact reason could only be ascertained after a thorough probe.

Kulbir Singh, the owner, said, “The fire broke out around 2.15am in a bedroom. Thankfully, no one sleeping inside the room at the time. The fire then spread to another adjoining bedroom, kitchen and the lobby. The flames and smoke spread and engulfed all the rooms on the entire floor causing suffocation. By the time my son and daughter-in-law woke up, the fire had spread and there was significant damage. Alarmed, they started calling for help from the window. The neighbours rushed in and called up the police and fire brigade. It was surprising that though the police responded promptly, the firefighters could only reach the spot at 3.20am.

“Everyone in my family was feeling helpless and crying. Some neighbours were quick to ring up the police and the fire brigade. However, the fire department sent a small tanker which failed to douse the flames. Later, three more fire engines were rushed to the spot and the fire was contained around 4.30am. By that time, however, we lost all our assets and valuable documents,” Singh said.

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The charred articles included jewellery, cash, property papers, school and college certificates of children and furniture.

“The ACs were completely gutted. The fire spread quickly and grew bigger. The firefighters even had to go up to a neighbour’s roof to douse the flames. We have not been able to ascertain the cause of the fire. It seems it was caused by a short circuit in one of the ACs. We were fast asleep at the time and couldn’t sense or ascertain how the fire broke out,” said Singh, who filed a police complaint later.

He claimed the telephone operator at the fire office did not pick the phone even after repeated attempts.

IS Kashyap, senior fire officer, said, “Our office received the call at 3.04 am and our engines reached the spot in 10 minutes.”