Massive fire guts AC workshop in Gzb, 70-yr-old worker dies

Noida: A massive fire that broke out at an air-conditioner service centre in Ghaziabad’s Patel Nagar area during the early hours of Saturday claimed the life of a 70-year-old worker and caused a loss of nearly Rs 2.5 crore.A police officer said a short circuit is believed to have triggered the blaze but the exact cause has still not been confirmed.The incident occurred at a three-storey AC service facility located inside a densely populated residential area in the tyre market of Udal Nagar.According to police, the fire started around 2:15am. The flames reached the AC units stored on the ground floor, leading to several explosions which caused the fire to spread further and engulf the whole building.At the time of the incident, at least 11 workers were sleeping inside the service centre.As the fire intensified, the workers attempted to escape but found the main gate locked from outside. Police found that an employee of the workshop, Ajay, locked the gate before going to sleep on the terrace. When the fire broke out, he was unable to come downstairs because the smoke had blocked the stairway. Eventually, the trapped workers used hammers to break the lock and managed to escape before raising an alarm.During the chaos, Triloki Nath, a resident of Ayodhya district who was working at the centre for nearly nine years, reportedly went back inside the building to retrieve his belongings. Witnesses said his co-workers had repeatedly requested him not to go in but he did not listen to them. The elderly worker, who reportedly had difficulty hearing and seeing, could not make it out safely. He is believed to have collapsed near the staircase after inhaling toxic smoke.The fire department launched a large-scale operation to control the fire. As the fire spread, additional fire tenders and water tankers were called in from Vaishali, Sahibabad and Modinagar. After nearly two hours, the fire was doused.Officials said the service centre had contracts with several major air-conditioner brands, including Voltas, Daikin, Mitsubishi and Blue Star. Hundreds of AC units, compressors and gas cylinders were stored inside the building. The compressor and cylinder blasts released toxic fumes into the air as a result of which nearby homes had to be evacuated.Two cars, including a Brezza and an Eeco, along with 13 motorcycles parked inside the premises, were destroyed in the fire. Thousands of AC parts, electronic equipment, furniture and household items stored inside were also reduced to ashes.The service centre owner, Omkar Singh, said the establishment was not insured and estimated the total loss to be around Rs 2.5 crore. Fire department officials noted that despite the presence of highly inflammable materials, no fire safety arrangements were found in the building.Authorities are investigating the exact cause of the fire and examining possible safety violations.