Flat in Noida high-rise gutted, residents allege lapses by builder

The owner said the police and fire brigade teams were informed within 10 minutes of the incident but they also reached late after the fire was doused.

A second floor flat in D-Block of Elite Homz high-rise residential society in Sector 77 was gutted on Thursday evening, causing triggered panic among the residents in the society. Alleging that the fire safety equipment did not function, they said the builder was ‘responsible’ for the accident.

Elite Homz high-rise residential society in Sector 77

The house owner, Arvind Kumar Jaiswal, said his family was out of station and he had gone out for dinner on Thursday evening when the incident took place. He returned to the residential society at around 9 pm after he was informed about the fire accident by his neighbours.

“Some residents tried to put out the fire with fire extinguisher but failed in their attempts, perhaps it was jammed. I along with some residents threw water using buckets to douse the flames,” said Jaiswal, who works in a multinational company in Noida.

Kapil Sharma, the site administrator of Elite Homz, said, “As soon as the fire broke out, a siren was blown and immediately residents were asked to evacuate the building. But the panic-stricken residents were not allowing the building’s maintenance and security staff to discharge their duties. The maintenance staff deployed fire extinguishers and water hydrants to put out the fire,” Sharma said.

The owner said the police and fire brigade teams were informed within 10 minutes of the incident but they also reached late after the fire was doused.

A complaint has been moved against the developer in Sector 49 police station alleging poor fire safety equipment and infrastructures in the building.

Prashuram, station house officer of Sector 49 police station, said,“Prima facie it seems the fire was caused due to short circuit. We have received a complaint and investigating the matter,” he said.