One fireman killed, 20 injured in Andheri corporate tower blaze

A building in Andheri West woke up to a major fire yesterday when flames erupted from the penultimate floor of the commercial building The fire broke out on the 21st floor of the Lotus Business Park a commercial tower situated on the New Link Road Fire brigade officials had to be brought in from all over Mumbai and Thane and the situation was controlled only in the evening However one fireman died in the operationAlso read A Fire NOC can be obtained for Rs 25 lakh reveal senior fire officialsHelp from above A Coast Guard chopper had to be called in after ten firemen were stuck on the terrace Left Fireman Nitin Ivalekar was charred to death while trying to douse the fireAccording to eyewitnesses the fire broke out around 915 am when people saw flames coming out from the 21st floor mdash the office premises owned by Century Communications which owns Pixion a postproduction film and animation studio in the same building Fire brigade officials said the control room received a call around 945 am after which fire engines and water tankers were dispatched to the spot instantlyJulio Mascarenhas an employee working in one of the offices on the tenth floor of the building said ldquoEvery day I come to office by 9 am But today I reached at around 910 am At around 915 am when I was reading my prayers I heard people shouting that a fire had broken out I too immediately rushed out of the building and we vacated the building immediatelyrdquo Luckily since it was still before normal office hours many hadnrsquot yet reached their workplacesFiremen struggleNo sooner had news of the fire spread than a thousandodd people gathered near the spot clicking pictures and taking videos More than 100 traffic police and other officials struggled to control the crowd At around 10 am when midday reached the spot we saw that the fire was spreading on floors above and below the 21st To make the situation worse the wind fanned the flames further Fighters were finding it tough to douse the flames due to this as smoke from inside came straight onto their facesFinal goodbye Fire brigade officials prepare for the funeral of Nitin Ivalekar inset who perished during operations PicBipin KokateThey soon realised that the fire which earlier appeared to be minor was beyond their scope Within two hours it was declared a lsquobrigade callrsquo mdashmeaning resources from all fire stations across Mumbai and surrounding suburbs have to be brought in with equipment and manpower ldquoAll the fire stations from Mumbai were asked to send water tankers fire engines and special equipment used for firefightingrdquo said a fire brigade official A 68metre high snorkel was brought in from Byculla fire station to reach the burning top floors Officials also broke the glass panes of the building to avoid suffocation Yet some firemen couldnrsquot breathe properlyTrappedBy 130 pm firefighters thought they had successfully extinguished the flames Ten firemen had reached the terrace to begin the cooling process But due to a gust of wind the flames spread once again on the floor below causing them to get stuck In order to rescue them the Navy and Coast Guard had to be called in At around 3 pm a Coast Guard chopper arrived on the spot and airlifted one official out of the burning building By this time the flames had died down yet again and the other nine climbed down the stairs inside A Navy chopper hovered above the tower to keep a tab on the operationsTill 6 pm 22 fire engines 12 water tankers 5 fire brigade ambulances and three fire brigade special appliances had reached the spot to douse the fireMore than 150 firefighters from Mumbai and Thane had joined the operation A total of 33 fire brigade officials had entered the building mdash 13 were fire officers and 20 were firemen These were stuck on the 21st and 22nd floors and one of them mdash Nitin Ivalekar mdash had been charred to death Many were injured due to the broken glass panesAlso read Fire under control at Andheris Lotus Business Park 1 firefighter deadA fireman who was on the 18th floor said ldquoAs there was no ventilation inside the building mdashwhich had a glass facade mdash it was becoming difficult to do my job Not only was the temperature inside the building high but the smoke also was causing us suffocation At one time I thought that I wouldnrsquot come out of the building alive rdquoThe flames were brought under control only by 630 pm and fire officials explained that the cooling process would take one to two days The 22storey building has more than 25 offices of varying sizes ranging from 2500 square feet to 15000 square feet