The fire at Aayakar Bhavan on Monday has brought fire-safety concerns linked to basements in the city under the scanner. The incident at the Income Tax office highlighted the risks posed by basements in large buildings when used to store large quantities of combustible material.

Case background

The fire was reported to the Mumbai Fire Brigade at 2.01 pm. Firefighting and evacuation efforts were carried out simultaneously and completed successfully by evening. The main challenge, along with evacuating around 1500 employees, was the danger posed by dense smoke inside the building, which can quickly build up in enclosed spaces such as basements and travel to higher floors.