30 escape blaze through balconies, ‘ladder bridge’ to next building’s roof

GHAZIABAD: Nine children and an eight months pregnant woman fled a burning apartment building in Indirapuram through escape routes fashioned from clothes and towels knotted together that led them to safety through balconies and a ladder that acted as a bridge to the terrace of an adjacent building.
They were among around 30 residents of 10 flats in the three-storey apartment building who got trapped in their homes after main stairwell caught fire because of a short circuit in electrical panel and a cooking gas line near it that also combusted.Eventually, all residents of building, located in Gyan Khand-1, escaped unhurt because the flames did not spread inside any of the homes, though the heat shattered glass panels above doors and cracked wall tiles. “My wife was alone at home. She immediately alerted other families in building. There were sparks from electric panel that engulfed two scooters and spread to the gas pipeline,” said ground-floor resident Kamal Somany, who was at work when the blaze started a little after 11am.
The building is located on a corner plot. The plots to its left and rear are vacant. There are a number of shanties located on left plot as well as on another plot across the lane to the right of building. Residents of four apartments on first floor were rescued with help of shanty dwellers who put bamboo ladders under balconies.
Kamal Gupta, who lives in a first-floor apartment, said, “My wife Meena and daughter-in-law Swati, who is eight months pregnant, were at home with me. We couldn’t take stairs and rushed to our balcony that opens towards left side of the building. We tied together clothes and towels using which we managed to reach ladders. It was risky but we had no choice.”
Residents of two other first-floor flats on right side of building were also rescued with the help of ladders. Some of them dashed up the smoke-filled staircase and escaped to terrace. Among them was 63-year-old Suresh Singh, whose immediate thoughts were about his two-and-half-year grandson. “My wife and I ran to terrace with our grandson. Residents of the building diagonally behind ours placed a ladder to bridge two terraces. We scrambled across to the other building.”
Jeetu, who lives in a shanty and helped with the rescue said he walking on the road when he noticed the flames. “My first instinct was to rush to the nearby substation and ask them to disconnect power supply. Later, we helped rescue the residents,” he said. Fire department officials received a call at the Vaishali station at 11.23 am. Two fire tenders were pressed into service. “We reached there with a dozen firemen within minutes. It did not take long to douse the flames. Officials of the gas agency also reached the building and turned off supply from the main pipeline. The fuel tank of a scooter parked near a gate exploded, which probably resulted in the fire spreading quickly. Some persons were still trying to escape the building when we reached. We rescued them safely,” said Vaishali fire officer Somdutt Sonkar.
The fire department said, the flames originated from a short circuit in an electrical panel below the stairwell on ground floor. Two scooters parked there were reduced to cinders. Of the nine children who live in the building, five were on first floor and four on second floor. All the kids were at home because schools were closed for Teachers’ Day.
The building has four flats each on the first and second floors and two on the ground floor. There are two shops on ground floor too. Only one person, Somany’s wife, was present on ground floor when fire broke out. She escaped to safety.