Around 2,000 students were evacuated safely after a fire broke out in the basement of Universal High School in Thane's Brahmand area on Thursday morning. Chief fire officer of the Thane Municipal Corporation, Shashikant Kale, said that no one was injured in the incident. The fire broke out around 9 AM, and prima facie an electric spark seemed to have started it, Kale added.

However, a notice has been issued to the school, seeking to know if it had the permission to use the basement and whether it had complied with fire safety rules, Kale said. The basement, where computer and some other classes were conducted, was completely gutted in the fire, he said. Firemen and personnel of the Regional Disaster Management Cell ensured that fire was doused within an hour, and in the meanwhile, around 2,000 students were safely taken out, he said.