Wooden parts of the staircase on the seventh floor of the main building of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) caught fire on Saturday evening. The Pune Fire Brigade and the university’s security guards quickly extinguished the fire. No casualties were reported in the incident. According to the Fire Brigade, the staircase and the structure made for hoisting flags caught fire around 6pm. After noticing the fire, the security personnel tried to extinguish it with their equipment. Meanwhile, the Fire Brigade was also informed. A team led by fire officer Kamlesh Sangale reached the spot and doused the fire. The cause of the fire is not known, said fire officials. University registrar Prafulla A Pawar said that work on the preventive conservation of the main building was on and that tar sheets were being laid on the roof to avoid water leakage in the building. “The tar sheets are required to be lighted before laying. At this time, a few tar sheets caught fire and smoke emanated from the area. As a precaution, we called the Fire Brigade. It was a minor incident,” he said.
