Mumbai hospital where fire killed 8 didn’t have sprinklers, extinguishers

The Mumbai Fire Brigade found fire fighting devices like sprinklers and fire extinguishers could not be used because they’d expired.

After eight people, including a two-month-old infant, were killed in a fire that broke out at the state-run Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Kamgar Hospital in Andheri, the fire fighting systems in the building have come under scrutiny.

On Monday, a fire was reported on the ground floor of ESIC Kamgar Hospital at 4.06pm. (Pramod Thakur/ Hindustan Times)

During its rescue operations, the Mumbai Fire Brigade found fire fighting devices like sprinklers and fire extinguishers could not be used because they’d expired. Staff members also pointed out that the hospital did not have ramps, which would have made it easier to evacuate bed-ridden patients.

On Monday, a fire was reported on the ground floor of ESIC Kamgar Hospital at 4.06pm, in the air-conditioning ducts where renovation work was underway. The X-ray and dental departments along with the kitchen and canteen first realised what was going on and the staff rushed upstairs to rescue others. They also shut the gas supply in the kitchen.

One staffer said, “We were on duty when the fire erupted and rushed to rescue patients, but the combustible material, due to the ongoing AC work, caused a lot of smoke which blocked vision and also many patients and staff members inhaled smoke. We were there for at least half an hour before the fire brigade came in and shifted patients to the new building.”

When personnel from the Mumbai Fire Brigade and the Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation (MIDC) Fire Brigade arrived, they found few fire systems in place. Several fire extinguishers were unusable as they had expired. The fire exit on the ground floor was blocked because of the blaze. Firemen and locals used the adjacent new wing, which was empty and connected to the hospital’s old building on the first floor, to rescue those inside. The glass windows were broken to ventilate the building and rescue people.

A civic fire official, who was on site during Monday’s rescue operations, said, “Prima facie, it appears that the building had the passive fire fighting system in place, like emergency exits and stairs, but the active fire fighting system, which needs to be changed and updated like the sprinklers, fire extinguishers and other such installations, was not in place.” Medical superintendent of ESIC Kamgar Hospital, BB Gupta, said, “The old building had extinguishers, sprinklers and other fire fighting systems in place, but they were not active. We were in the process of replacing them and installing new ones.” Earlier, on March 28, a minor fire broke out near the hospital’s blood bank and was doused by staffers. The fire brigade was not notified. “After that [the fire in March], we believed that the hospital authorities would take fire safety norms seriously, but things didn’t change,” said a hospital employee. Another staff member said the hospital has no committee for disaster management and neither were any systems in place in case of emergencies. “Although there were fire extinguishers, they had expired and other inbuilt fire systems did not work when the fire erupted,” added the staffer.

Built in 1973, the ESIC Kamgar Hospital is made up of two buildings of which the newer one is not operational. The hospital comes under the jurisdiction of the MIDC and questions were raised on Monday regarding the hospital’s compliance of fire safety and other building norms. However, deputy fire chief of MIDC MV Ogale clarified on Tuesday the hospital was not at fault. “It appears that the hospital has not flouted any norms. I believe that our building and planning department had also permitted them the glass facade. It seems this fire was a mere accident,” he said.