A Loss of Assets at High-rise Fire Incident in Mumbai’s Breach Candy
by Priya Jadhav
Mumbai, 29th May 2023: Another fire incident in Mumbai’s high-rise building raised questions over fire safety and evacuation challenges. A fire broke out at Breach Candy Apartment on Saturday. The fire started on the 12th floor of the building and quickly spread to other floors. It was reported as a Level 2 fire in which four flats were gutted in less than two hours. It had extensive property damage to the building.
The incident reported on Saturday, 10.24 pm, was
doused by the fire brigade team at around 3.55 am Sunday. Fortunately, no one
was injured, but what about the firefighting system and evacuation solution of
the building? If the firefighting system were working, then it would have
helped to control the blaze. If the building had an evacuation solution, then
firefighters would have been reached faster and safer to douse the fire on
time. They had to fight the battle to reach higher floors by ladder and
evacuate people from higher floors.
A senior civic official said, “When we
reached the spot, we had to first move the parked vehicles to make a way. This
delayed the operation by 10 – 15 minutes, which is very critical in such
cases.”
Prabhat
Rahandale, a former CFO, said, "Even if the annual maintenance contract is
given in high rise, during a fire incident in 90%, cases the fire fighting
system is found to be non-functional. So, as per the recent amendment to the
act, the buildings should have an automated continuous monitoring system that
will ensure that the fire fighting systems are in good repair and efficient
working condition."
Dr. Vikram Mehta, an industry expert, said, “Time is of the essence when fighting fires. A few minutes can be all that stands between controllable flames and an out-of-control blaze. We could have saved the time and energy of the fire brigade team, who has to use the ladder to reach higher floors and for that, they have to make a way first by moving parked vehicles. In a metro city like Mumbai, these are the common challenges. Developers and societies of all high-rise buildings have to take accountability for fire safety and evacuation solutions to avoid such hassle. It's not only about saving lives but also about saving luxurious assets and damage to the building. Installing a Fire Evacuation Lift as per the Maharashtra Energy Department advisory dated 20th July 2022 will save lives and assets and make it efficient for the fire brigade department to fight the fire.”
Dr.
Deepak Monga, Fire Safety and Evacuation Expert said, “Yet, no one is talking
about the Evacuation Solution. In the Breach Candy fire incident, due to the
non-functional firefighting system and lack of evacuation solutions,
firefighters faced a lot of challenges. They have to use a ladder to reach
higher floors. Although we have a 90-meter ladder, in a coastal city like
Mumbai, it becomes difficult for firefighters to reach higher floors because of
the wind velocity. Though there were no casualties, imagine the kind of
losses and damage the building now has. The situation could have been better if
they had a working fire-fighting system and evacuation solution. From Infra
Developers to Society Members, We need to take correct preventive measures
for a safer city and safer high-rise living."
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