Massive fire at Mutha Chambers

* Loss of property worth Rs 9 cr

A massive fire broke out at Mutha Chambers on Senapati Bapat Road,near ICC trade towers,on Thursday evening around 4.30 pm. No casualty or injuries were reported. However,as per police sources,estimated loss of property is of about Rs 9 crore.

The fire that started at Yardi Softwares office on sixth floor due to a short circuit in the air-conditioning system soon engulfed three more floors of the commercial complex. Office infrastructure on three floors turned to ashes.

The situation was brought under control in one-and-a- half hour.

Around 150 employees of the firm vacated the premises when they saw the smoke and got indications from the alarm. The fire soon spread to unoccupied seventh floor and eighth floor that has offices of Mutha Associates and Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana.

Deputy municipal commissioner Praveen Ashtekar said,“The fire that started from the sixth floor later spread to the fifth,seventh and eighth floor. The fire on the fifth floor was not that intense though. Eight fire brigade vehicles,four water tankers and two snorkels werepressed into service.”

He added that every building has an underground water tank for fire extinguishing. “The tank under Mutha Chambers proved to be of great help for initial fire control,” he said.

Shantilal Mutha of Mutha Associates said they also used water from ICC Trade Towers initially.

Gajanan Patrudkar,a fire fighter,said when they reached the sixth floor through the snorkel,things inside were already gutted. “So our primary motive was to bring the fire under control,” he said.

Ratna Gosavi,an employee at the Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana,said they were fortunate to know about the fire at an early stage. No case has been registered yet as police said a case will be filed after primary investigations..