Kolkata: A fire broke at an office in Sector V's SDF Building on Wednesday morning. Four fire tenders fought the blaze for two hours before bringing it under control. Preliminary investigation revealed that electrical short circuit might have led to the fire. The extent of damage is yet to be ascertained. No one has been injured in the incident.
Some employees of an IT firm housed on the third floor of the office building in the morning spotted the flames which quickly spread to the fourth floor. There was panic among the employees who ran for safety. Four fire tenders went to the spot and doused the flames.
It has been learnt that the fire extinguishers along with the fire-fighting equipment were not working. Even the fire exit was under lock and key.
Sujit Bose, Minister of State for Fire and Emergency Services, who visited the site said a major disaster was averted due to the timely intervention of the fire brigade personnel.
He expressed his displeasure over the non-functioning of the fire-fighting equipment. In regard to this, he added that the fire audit will be conducted in shopping malls and institutional buildings where people pay regular visits.
He also maintained that the fire-fighting drills are not conducted regularly. As a result, the fire-fighting equipment do not work during emergency. He said the fire audit will be conducted in all housing complexes and office buildings which are visited by hundreds of people daily.
It may be mentioned that Bose had made a surprise visit at a shopping mall in Kankurgachi last week where he found that the fire-fighting gadgets were not in working condition.
It may be mentioned that the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) has decided to engage a private agency to conduct fire audits in all shopping malls, institutional buildings in New Town.