Mumbai residential building fire doused in 2 hours; 5 rescued

Five people were rescued after a major fire occurred in two floors of a residential building in suburban Vile Parle in Mumbai on Sunday (December 23) night, officials from the fire department said.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

The blaze remained confined to two to three flats on the seventh and eighth floors of the Rath Shrivalli building situated on Bajaj Road in Vile Parle (W). The fire raged for almost two hours before it was doused completely around 9:30 pm, a senior official said.

Of the two wings in the building, wing A is ground plus 12-storied while wing B is ground plus nine-storied. The number of units located on each floor could not be confirmed.

“Five persons, including a woman, were rescued during the operation. Nobody was trapped on the terrace of the building. The woman was rescued from the eighth floor of the B wing,” Chief Fire Officer P Rahangdale said.

He said that the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Eight fire engines, five jumbo water tanks, three turntable ladders, a control post, a breathing apparatus van, and a quick response van were pressed into service to put out the flames, he said.

Fire fighting system of the building was found to be non-operational, the chief fire officer said. He said that the electricity and water supply to the building will be disconnected till the fire fighting system becomes functional.

“Further action will be taken under Fire Act,” Rahangdale added.

Senior Juhu police station inspector Pandharinath Vavhal said that the fire started from an eighth-floor flat on one of the two wings where interior decoration work was going on.

“Further action will be taken after the report of the Fire Brigade,” he said.