Fire brigade employed ladders to rescue people stuck on upper floors

MUMBAI: In one of the largest rescue operations in recent times, the fire brigade brought down 86 people stranded on the terrace of the nine-storey MTNL telephone exchange off S V Road in Bandra (W) after fire erupted in the building around 3pm on Monday. There was no casualty; a fireman sustained minor injuries.

Smoke engulfed neighbouring buildings and a nearby school, and even blew across Bandra railway station. The fire, which allegedly started in an airconditioning unit, was largely confined to the building's third and fourth floors.

Chief fire officer PS Rahangdale claimed this was the fire brigade’s largest operation, involving 170 breathing apparatus instead of the usual dozen, 16 fire engines and 175 firefighters, along with Robofire—a remotecontrolled vehicle fitted with firefighting equipment — used for the first time. Most of the trapped employees in the building, which houses the MTNL office as well as staff quarters, were brought down by 5.40pm.

While it is not known how many people were in the building, civic officials said the consequences were limited because the building wasn’t densely occupied at the time. The assistant municipal commissioner of BMC’s H west ward, Sharad Ughade, said, “There was no headcount of people within the premises, which was a hindrance. Hence, fire officers broke each and every window to ensure that no one was stranded.” He said some external repairs were going on when the fire brigade reached the site.

Rahangdale declined to comment on the cause of the blaze and said the building’s firefighting system was not functional.

People rushed to the upper floors and the terrace after they realised that it would be impossible for them to go down the staircase, which had become smoke-logged. Borivli resident Smita Kadam, who works on the building's 8th floor, said, “Thankfully, the fire brigade brought us down safely using a ladder.”

Nevertheless, over 50 people came down the staircase or rushed out from the ground floor. Rahangdale said the cause of the fire needs to be investigated. “There were huge switch-gears and cables on the upper floors and hence we were moving very carefully in the area,” he said. “This was one of the largest rescue operations as many people were stranded on the higher floors. They were rescued from various sides of the terrace with ladders.”

(Inputs by Vijay V Singh and Bella Jaisinghani)

