Fire at Ahmedabad high-rise causes panic among residents, 45 evacuated

“The fire broke out probably due to overheating due to an electric short circuit in the duct on the ground floor, first, eleventh and fourteenth floor of the Takshashila Air near the Ellisbridge Townhall. About 45 residents were evacuated from the building. Two residents were affected by the smoke, so they were taken to the hospital,” Jayesh Khadia, the Chief Fire Officer of Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services, said.

The residents who could not use the lifts had to run down the stairs. Residents also alleged that the fire alarm did not go off.

One of the residents, Pikesh Jain, 38, who lives on the tenth floor of the block where the fire broke out told The Indian Express, “At around 5:45 am, I got a call from a friend who lives on the 12th floor, that there was a fire on his floor. There was a huge fire in the electricity duct and a lot of smoke. I tried dousing the fire using the fire extinguisher placed on that floor, but could not.”

Jain said he tried to shut the mains and tried to put on the siren to alert the residents. “However, the siren was not working and as it was shut off from the source in the basement. I then went to turn on the main switch for the fire alarm in the basement… The fire was caught in the duct somewhere between 11th and the 14th floor,” added Jain.

The duct has electricity wire, optic wires for wi-fis, intercoms, TV cables and so on. “There were some open wires always hanging in the duct. Some of the work is still going on for some flats for internet connection, television connections and so on, so this fire might have happened due to such negligence by the technician. Though we still do not know why the incident took place, “said Jain.

According to Bhavesh Shah, who lives on the 12th floor, there was no passage for his family to escape. “We had nowhere to go, what if the smoke filled our flat, we would have suffocated. There are so many cracks in the block, it is almost unfit to live here. We are definitely going to take some action soon,” said Shah, adding that the ground, first, eleventh and fourteenth floor are quite damaged.

According to Jain, one of the entrances was completely sealed by glass by the builder for “security reasons”, another was a ramp for wheelchairs which was locked, and the third entrance was operated through a fingerprint security system.

Due to a lot of smoke, it became difficult for the residents to escape. “So the glass entrance was broken by the residents. Some of them managed to escape to the other block (A) through an interconnecting path between the blocks at the 18th floor, where there is also a gym,” said Jain.

According to Jain, a fire incident also happened on January 20, in someone’s balcony but that was doused by water. Even then the sirens could not be used to alert, as they were switched off from the basement.

Despite the regular concerns of the residents to keep the security systems on, the management of the apartment had been ignorant. The residential building is owned and managed by the builder, Kamlesh Gondaliya.

Gondaliya, could not be contacted for comments. The building use permit was approved in September 2020, as per Jain, and he has moved in like most of the families in 2021.