How Home Ministry office got saved
25 Jun 2012 12:15 AM GMT
A possible tragedy was averted in North Block that houses offices of union home ministry when a minor fire broke out in the garbage kept on the balcony of an outer window on the second floor of the building on Sunday afternoon, fire officials said.
The fire broke out at around 2.15 pm on a non-functional spiral staircase that is some distance away from home minister P Chidambaram’s office. No casualty or major damage was reported in the incident, which is now being taken as a wake up call. Except some security personnel nobody was present in the building, as Sunday is a non-working day.
Ten fire tenders took around eight minutes to douse the flames, which had engulfed the outer window that functions as a ventilator of the staircase. According to police, the blaze originated from the garbage after a short circuit in a thick cable passing close to the garbage.
B K Gupta, Delhi police commissioner, who visited the spot said, ‘It looks that there was a short circuit in the cable due to heat. The home minister has asked Central Forensic Science Laboratory [CFSL] to ascertain the exact cause of fire.’
‘Some cigarette butts found near the fire spot suggests that they were thrown casually by some labourers working there. We will question the contractor who is carrying out renovation work in North Block as well as the labourers working there. The case is being investigated by the Delhi Police,’ said Gupta adding the response of the fire department in dousing the blaze was appreciable.
Kuldeep Dhatwalia, home ministry spokesperson, said the blaze was doused before 2.35 pm by the firemen who had started their operation at around 2.27 pm.
Sources said the blaze broke out at a place, which is adjacent to the offices of Chidambaram, Minister of State for Home Mullapally Ramachandran and Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanaswamy.
After hearing about the incident, Chidambaram, R K Singh, home secretary and Delhi police commissioner along with senior officials visited the spot. The fire was described as minor by Delhi fire department director A K Sharma. Dushyant Singh, Chief Security Officer in home ministry, said there was no damage to the offices of the home minister or any other ministers.
The fire broke out at around 2.15 pm on a non-functional spiral staircase that is some distance away from home minister P Chidambaram’s office. No casualty or major damage was reported in the incident, which is now being taken as a wake up call. Except some security personnel nobody was present in the building, as Sunday is a non-working day.
Ten fire tenders took around eight minutes to douse the flames, which had engulfed the outer window that functions as a ventilator of the staircase. According to police, the blaze originated from the garbage after a short circuit in a thick cable passing close to the garbage.
B K Gupta, Delhi police commissioner, who visited the spot said, ‘It looks that there was a short circuit in the cable due to heat. The home minister has asked Central Forensic Science Laboratory [CFSL] to ascertain the exact cause of fire.’
‘Some cigarette butts found near the fire spot suggests that they were thrown casually by some labourers working there. We will question the contractor who is carrying out renovation work in North Block as well as the labourers working there. The case is being investigated by the Delhi Police,’ said Gupta adding the response of the fire department in dousing the blaze was appreciable.
Kuldeep Dhatwalia, home ministry spokesperson, said the blaze was doused before 2.35 pm by the firemen who had started their operation at around 2.27 pm.
Sources said the blaze broke out at a place, which is adjacent to the offices of Chidambaram, Minister of State for Home Mullapally Ramachandran and Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanaswamy.
After hearing about the incident, Chidambaram, R K Singh, home secretary and Delhi police commissioner along with senior officials visited the spot. The fire was described as minor by Delhi fire department director A K Sharma. Dushyant Singh, Chief Security Officer in home ministry, said there was no damage to the offices of the home minister or any other ministers.
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