Short-circuit in Andheri duplex kills senior citizen
A senior citizen died in a fire at Sky Pan building, Andheri West. The blaze, caused by a short circuit, trapped 75-year-old Rahul Mishra.
MUMBAI: A senior citizen was killed on Monday night following the breakout of a major fire in Sky Pan, a 13-storey building in Oberoi Complex at Andheri West. The building is 32 years old and has 22 flats.
The Level 2 blaze erupted in 75-year-old Rahul Mishra’s duplex flat at 10.02 pm. Mishra, who fell unconscious on account of the smoke, was the only casualty in the fire, and was declared dead on admission to Kokilaben Hospital. Four other family members escaped unhurt, including his son Raunak (38), who was discharged from hospital the next day.
Prima facie, the cause of the fire was a short circuit in one of the rooms of the duplex flat on the eleventh floor which spread to the twelfth floor. The internal wooden staircase of the duplex flat and the smoke, combined with the heat-suffused staircase, posed a challenge to the fire brigade officials.
Mishra, who was trapped in a room on the twelfth floor, was lying unconscious when the firemen found him. Residents of the building said that he was paralytic, making it difficult for him to escape. He was carried out on a stretcher by firemen when he was still unconscious but died before reaching hospital.
“The fire was due to an electrical short circuit in the 1,500-sq-ft duplex,” said a senior fire official. “The 11th and 12th floor were full of smoke. We rescued two men and two women and then found Rahul Mishra unconscious in his bedroom.”
The senior fire official said that all the household items like a television set, refrigerator and electrical wiring were gutted in the fire. “The firefighting system of the building wasn’t working and the residents tried to use a fire extinguisher,” he said. “Because the blaze was so enormous, extinguishers didn’t help. We sent eight fire engines and jumbo water tankers along with hydraulic ladders.”
The official added that the fire brigade had to ensure that the piped gas supply in the kitchen was not affected, as there would otherwise be a free flow of gas which would have escalated the blaze further. Finally, after four hours of assiduously fighting the blaze, it was doused at 1.49 am.
A civic official from K West ward said that the challenge before the firemen was to physically lift Mishra and carry him down the staircase, as the lifts were not functioning. Krishnendu Chatterjee, chairman of Sky Pan, Wing B, said that the deceased was a doctor.
“All the residents vacated the building, though only Mishra’s flat was impacted,” said Chatterjee, adding that the residents returned the next day just to collect essential items. “The electricity has been shut off, as the wiring is being checked presently,” he said. “A couple of members were present in the building while the electricity was being restored.”
Versova fire station in DP but never constructed
A big grouse of local residents is the fact that the Versova assembly constituency, which has a population of 500,000, lacks a fire station. This assembly segment relies on either the Irla or Goregaon fire stations, both of which take at least 25 minutes—or longer, depending on traffic—to reach the site of a fire.
This delay has resulted in several preventable deaths over the past year. For example, three people died of smoke suffocation at Riya Palace in Lokhandwala on October 17. Residents believe their lives could have been saved if the fire brigade had arrived sooner.
“Had there been a fire station in Andheri, the fire tenders would have reached in three minutes yesterday,” said Dhaval Shah, chairman, Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (LOCA). “There is a reservation for a fire station in the development plan of 1991, and its absence is costing people dearly. We wonder how many lives will be lost before the fire brigade decides to have a fire station in Versova.”
Shah said that a portion of Chitrakoot Ground was reserved for the fire station but still not constructed. “The developer has commercially exploited the plot without handing it over to the BMC,” he said.
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