Fire at four-storey Bhiwandi building doused, all occupants rescued

A fire had erupted at a four-storey building, which housed a number of garment-manufacturing units, at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra’s Thane district on Tuesday morning.

A fire broke out at a four-storey building that housed a number of garment-manufacturing units, at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra’s Thane district on Tuesday morning. All the 80 occupants of the building have been rescued, authorities said.

As many as 20 people were shifted to the topmost floor of the building as a precautionary measure, even as cooling operations were undertaken at the lower levels. (HT photo)

Around seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot, after which the fire was brought under control.

Bhiwandi tehsildar Vaishali Lambhate said as many as 20 people were earlier shifted to the topmost floor of the building as a precautionary measure, even as cooling operations were undertaken at its lower levels. The fire brigade used hydraulic ladders to evacuate the people trapped inside the building.

Elaborating on the incident, Lambhate said the fire broke out around 7.30 am and then spread to other rooms on the ground floor. The situation was worsened by the presence of oil barrels in the rooms, he added.

According to unconfirmed reports, the blaze had occurred due to a short-circuit in the building’s electric lines. “There was a sudden fire, followed by a lot of smoke. All the residents ran to the terrace,” said a survivor.

Confirming that there were no casualties, Thane collector Dr Ashwini Joshi said: “It was a massive fire, and 80 people were trapped. But they have all been evacuated safely. We are investigating the cause of the fire.”

(With agency inputs).