A fire that spread through a 14-storey residential building in Nalasopara East, Palghar, killed two women and left at least 28 residents stranded on the terrace after smoke filled the structure late on Tuesday night.
The fire broke out in the meter room on the ground floor of the B wing of Imperial Heritage when many residents were attending Garba festivities inside the complex. The victims, identified as Ashwini Parkar, 65, and Falguni Shah, were staying on the 12th floor. They lost consciousness after inhaling smoke and were declared dead at a local hospital.
Eyewitnesses said the fire began shortly after 11 pm. Fire brigade officials, however, said they received the emergency call at 12.11 am on Wednesday. The officials initially received information that the fire had started on the 11th floor, but found on reaching the building that it had originated in the ground-floor meter room and spread upwards through the duct area.
A fire brigade official told The Indian Express that the duct ran parallel to the doors of the flats. Several doors had been decorated with flammable materials, including wooden and acrylic sheets, allowing the flames to spread rapidly through the building. The fire reached the 12th floor, where Parkar and Shah were trapped.
Officials said the two women had not suffered many burn injuries. They were overcome by carbon monoxide after smoke accumulated inside the building. Residents escaped using different routes as the fire moved through the structure. At least 28 people who were unable to leave were rescued from the terrace, while others were evacuated through the building’s exits and windows.
The Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation fire brigade said the building’s firefighting system was inoperative during the incident. Senior officials said this condition delayed firefighting and rescue operations, although the extent of the delay was not specified.
Fire brigade personnel also said an initial inspection indicated that electricity for the Garba mandap and lighting had been additionally drawn from the meter room. The additional load may have caused overloading, officials said, but they added that the final cause of the fire had not yet been established.
The fire brigade’s investigation is expected to determine how the blaze began, how it travelled through the duct and whether the inoperative firefighting system and combustible door decorations contributed to the spread and delayed evacuation.
