Tragedy averted: Fire at Ghaziabad hospital chars pharmacy, all patients safe

Critical patients shifted to Yashoda and Sarvodaya hospitals; the ground floor pharmacy caught fire due to a suspected short circuit

Nearly 30-40 patients, staff and other employees of a local multi-specialty hospital survived a major fire that broke out on the ground floor pharmacy of the building on Thursday afternoon. The fire department’s fast response helped contain the fire confine the flames to ground floor.

A major fire broke out on the ground floor of Ganesh Hospital in Ghaziabad on Thursday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The building was promptly evacuated and no one was injured in the blaze that left the entire four-storey building covered in a bubble of thick smoke.

The ground floor pharmacy, located on the outer side of the hospital, caught fire due to a suspected short circuit in electrical wires, the police said. Soon, the medicines stored inside caught fire which was doused by the hospital staff with fire extinguishers, fooling the staff into safety and leading to a bigger blaze.

“The staff thought that they had put out the fire fully because there was a lot of smoke, but it spread to other parts of the pharmacy. Soon, we pressed the fire alarm and alerted two other hospitals who sent their ambulances. We rushed critical patients to Yashoda and Sarvodaya hospitals in the ambulances they sent,” director of the hospital Dr Archana Sharma said.

“The fire remained confined to the pharmacy enclosure but it burnt the entire stock of medicines. Since the medicines caught fire, a thick smoke engulfed the building and also the upper floors,” Dr Sharma added.

As the panic gripped the staff and patients, the staff called the fire department for help and three fire tenders were rushed to the spot from Ghanta Ghar Kotwali fire station. The volunteers from the civil defence also rushed to the hospital and helped with the rescue efforts.

In the meanwhile, police and administrative officers also rushed to the spot to look after the evacuation of patients and shifting to the two hospitals.

“It seems that the fire started at the pharmacy because of a short circuit. We rushed three fire tenders as a precautionary measure. The hospital staff had shifted the patients outside and all of them were rushed to Yashoda and Sarvodaya hospitals. Since the medicines caught fire, the smoke was thick and pungent. No casualty or injuries were reported during the incident,” said Sunil Kumar Singh, chief fire officer, Ghaziabad.

The fire department officials said that all the fire systems at the hospital were functional.