8 killed in Solapur factory fire: Fire brigade was inadequately equipped, lives could have been saved, say victims’ kin

The fire claimed the lives of four members each of the Mansuri and the Bagwan family. The Mansuris owned the factory and had allegedly constructed a house on the first floor of the factory inside the MIDC. The Bagwans were workers at the factory and resided in the premises.

Junaid Mansuri, a relative who also worked at the factory, told The Indian Express, “It is the carelessness of the fire brigade that the five people have died. They did not have enough water, the pipe did not have pressure. They had a 1-1.5 inch pipe, have you seen such a small pipe with the fire brigade anywhere? They did not have enough fireproof dresses and oxygen cylinders.”

The fire began at 3:30 am according to Junaid. Of the eight who died, three were retrieved by around 4:30 am by the fire brigade. However it took over 12 hours to reach the other five, who had locked themselves in a bathroom with showers turned on to save themselves from the smoke and fire at around 3:30 pm due to the Fire Brigade’s inefficiency, said Junaid.

Describing his ordeal, Junaid said, “At 3:30 am, our man ran to the fire station nearby. They kept saying that the vehicle was filling with water and coming, it finally reached around 4:05 am. The water pressure was so low that it was not affecting the fire at all. We told them to go inside but they said the heat was too much. I was pulling the fire brigade personnel around asking them to put water and go inside, but it didn’t happen. Finally after 12 hours, almost after 3 pm the next day, the five bodies were brought out.” He also said that the family had to arrange around 30 to 40 private water tankers as the fire brigade could not arrange for water.

Mansuri said that he received the last call from Anas Mansuri at 4:30 am, “He said that they couldn’t breathe any longer and asked us to save them. After that call, they stopped picking up calls and probably fainted.”

Former corporator Baba Mistri said that he arrived at the spot of the incident at 5 am and also agreed that the fire brigade did not have adequate equipment. He told The Indian Express, “I reached the spot at 5 am. The fire brigade did not have any safety equipment, the dress or the oxygen cylinders. We could have saved the people inside. Even the fire brigade vehicles were few and it took a lot of time for them to arrive. The Solapur vehicle came early, but the Akkalkot and Pandharpur vehicles took time. This allowed the fire to grow.”

However, Chief Fire Officer Rakesh Salunkhe denied the allegation and said, “We were told it is a fire at a house, so we sent one vehicle. If we knew that it was a fire at a factory, we would have sent a greater force even earlier. As soon as we got to know each other, we called for more people.” Salunkhe spoke to The Indian Express while being admitted at Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sarvopchar Rugnalaya Civil Hospital in Solapur due to burn injuries on his hand and leg during the rescue operation.

He added, “We entered the building with oxygen cylinders and then retrieved the three people initially. Everyone will have their view. We were told that the other five were in a bathroom, and we looked at all bathrooms, they were found in the last one. We broke the bathroom lock finally… Oxygen cylinders vans are there but this is not Mumbai or Pune. We will propose these things (more equipment).” He added that municipal corporation tankers called by the fire department were also available at the scene.