With Saturday’s blaze in a 100-year-old Kalbadevi building and its subsequent collapse claiming the lives of two fire department officers, a government-ordered enquiry will investigate the circumstances that led to the tragedy that unfolded after the firemen had evacuated those trapped in the building. Read: Mumbai building fire: NDRF pitches in with fire brigade Assistant Divisional Fire Officer Sanjay Rane and Byculla station Officer M M Desai died on Saturday after being trapped under debris of the falling four-storey Gokul Niwas building. [related-post] Four senior officers were caught at the entrance to the building as huge chunks of debris fell from the building. While Rane and Desai died, Chief Fire Officer Sunil Nesrikar and his deputy Sudhir Amin also sustained grave injuries, with Amin’s condition still critical on Sunday evening. After Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called for a detailed probe, Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta formed a seven-member panel under Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee to specifically look into the reasons for the loss of fire officers’ lives. The panel is to submit its report in three weeks. Around 6.45 pm on Saturday, nearly two hours into fire-fighting operations, the four officials were standing at the entrance of the structure when a part of the building crashed, burying the two of them. PS Rahangdale, deputy chief fire officer, said seniors usually do not depute juniors to enter a space until they are completely sure of the situation. “In this case also, the senior officials went in for an assessment, though we are still not sure if they thought some more people were stuck inside,” Rahangdale said. The old, dilapidated building, like several other structures in south Mumbai, did not have internal fire-fighting equipment in place. Read: Day after: Picking up the pieces as rescue op ends M V Deshmukh, fire advisor to the government, said, “Though the law stipulates that old buildings should also be periodically checked and fire-fighting measures be suggested, it is practically impossible. For example, even if we stipulate the use of sprinklers, such old buildings cannot install an overhead water tank to run the system.” As they dissected their response and the subsequent tragedy, fire department officials said traffic snarls in South Mumbai’s congested Kalbadevi area and the large amounts of combustible material including batteries, chemicals, fabrics and wood stored in the building were serious challenges. That access points to the building were limited to two ends of a narrow street also meant that only two fire engines out of 17 that were rushed to the site could be actually used. Read: Mumbai Fire Brigade: Colleagues bid adieu to Sanjay Desai and Mahendra Rane According to preliminary investigations, the fire was caused by a short-circuit in the meter box on the ground floor. Fire officials also suspect two major cylinder blasts which aggravated the intensity of the flames. Meanwhile, on Sunday, chief fire officer Sunil Nesarikar was operated upon at the National Burns Institute, Airoli, for burns on his hands and legs while Deputy Fire Officer Sudhir Amin’s hands were operated for burn injuries. Dr Sunil Keswani, medical director at the Burns Institute, said, “Both are very critical. Amin may suffer multiple organ failure as he sustained fourth degree burns and has 90 per cent burn injuries. He has been put on ventilator and can’t breathe due to injuries in the lungs.” Nesarikar is also critical but is stable, and has sustained 50 per cent burns. Nine-hour inferno Saturday, 4.21 pm: Fire brigade’s control room receives a call, informing of a fire at Kalbadevi’s Gokul Niwas building 4.42 pm: Fire brigade reaches the spot. Traffic snarls blamed for the delayed response 4.54 pm: Fire call upgraded, eight fire engines pressed into service 5.00 pm: Fire continues to fan further. Two LPG cylinder blasts reported 5:44 pm: Three trapped people rescued safely. Two others were later rescued 6:42 pm: Firemen are finding it difficult to contain the fire from inside. CFO Sunil Nesrikar, DCFO Amin, ADFO Sanjay Rane, and station officer MM Desai assess fire mitigation efforts. They are stationed just outside the building entrance. Just then, portions of the building cave in. All the four officers are trapped in the falling debris 6.58 pm: Fire brigade gives a ‘Brigade call’, reserved for the most serious fire emergencies. All fire engines from Mumbai pressed into service, help sought from other brigades in the MMR 7.08 pm: Nesrikar, who has suffered 50 per cent burns in the incident, brought out in an injured state 8.08 pm: Amin rescued. He has sustained 90 per cent burns 10.30 pm: Building collapses entirely 11.45 pm: Fire brought under control 12.30 am: Bodies of Rane and Desai are fished out of the debris Sunday, 1.30 am: Fire finally contained 10.30 am: Cooling operations initiated tanushree.venkatraman@expressindia.com
