Mumbai: Fire at Andheri East building spreads, heat and smoke hamper ops

The fire broke out at a building housing the offices of Rolta, an Indian multinational company in MIDC in Andheri East’s Marol area, at 11:30 am and operations to bring the blaze under control continued till late evening.

fire broke out at a commercial building in Mumbai’s Andheri East suburb. The fire broke out at a building housing the offices of Rolta, an Indian multinational company. The fire was confined to the building server room, located on the second floor of the three-storey structure. The building is located in the Rolta Technology Park in MIDC in Andheri East’s Marol area.

Visuals from the area showed dense smoke coming out of the building. Twelve fire engines of the Mumbai Fire Brigade were at the spot and fire-fighting and search opereations were on as of last updating this report. The fire broke out at 11:30 am and operations to bring the blaze under control continued till late evening.

At around 4.30 pm, the Fire Brigade informed that the operation to douse flames was still going, but so far there was no report of any casualty or anyone being trapped in the premises.

#Flash:#Fire at Rolta company, 22nd street, Andheri MIDC, Marol

Fire confined to server room on 2nd floor of gr+ 3 commercial structure. Dense smoke logged. Staricase smoke logged.

8 Fire engine on spot. pic.twitter.com/fElWV8nuvP

— Mumbai Tak (@mumbaitak) February 13, 2020

At least 12 fire engines and 11 jumbo water tankers are engaged in extinguishing the inferno, the official said.

According to civic sources, initially the fire was confined to the server room of the building, but later it spread to other parts of the strucuture, gutting a major portion of it.

As a major part of the building was engulfed by flames, the Fire Brigade escalated the fire call to “level four” (serious) around 1.50 pm, they said.

Mumbai’s Chief Fire Officer Prabhat Rahangdale said dense smoke engulfed the building and its staircases, posing difficulties in the fire-fighting operation

“The situation is deteriorating as there is no ventilation in the building. Firemen are facing difficulty in the operation due to intense heat and dense smoke inside the building, he said.

The situation is grave because of aluminium cladding, glass facade and lack of ventilation in the building, the Fire Brigade said.

“The firemen are battling to contain the blaze from inside as well as outside using special equipment and donning breathing apparatus sets, Rahangdale said.

The cause of the fire was not yet known, the sources said.