Fire at Borivli high-rise kills pet dog

The fire started at the 14th floor of Rose Mary Building in Chikuwadi, Borivli West

A massive fire broke out in a high-rise in Chikuwadi, Borivli West around 4:30 am on Sunday. The fire started at flat no. 1402 and led to burn injuries to the resident. The resident claimed that the fire hydrant and alarm system were not functional. While there have been no human casualties, one pet dog lost life.

The incident took place in Rose Mary society. Around 60 residents were rescued as the fire spread from the 14th floor to the 17th floor. Around 15 fire brigade tankers were rushed to the spot. The fire was doused within 10 minutes.

Residents at the society premises after being vacated

Vidya Samani, who lives in flat no. 1402, said she went off to sleep around 2:30 am and woke up around 4:45 am due to suffocation.

"Around 4:45 am I suddenly started suffocating and woke up to see my room and my house full of smoke and fire. I forced open the bedroom door and woke up the neighbours seeking help. We tried to break the sprinklers and also to start the fire alarm, but none of them worked. There was no water coming out of the sprinklers. We also tried to douse the fire by pouring water from buckets, but to no avail. Then we woke up others on adjacent floors and asked them to vacate the building. All the building members helped each other to get out of the building and to rescue the people on the top floors towards the terrace area," she said.

Vidya Samani, resident of the flat where the fire started

She added, "I was wondering how the fire broke out and spread that my entire flat was burned. Strict action should be taken against the builder for defunct fire fighting system."

‘Lost my dog'

Amar Dewani, who lost his 6-year-old beagle, told midday, "I woke up due to suffocation and found my flat full of smoke. As my flat is on the 17th floor, I had first thought it was fog. I woke up my wife Jasmine and daughter Ruhaa and left the flat. But when I looked for Romeo, my dog who always followed me, he was not there. I called for him a number of times, but he did not respond. The smoke was getting dense so we had to vacate the building. When the fire was doused by fire officials, I went up to find Romeo unconscious. I took him to the nearest vet who declared him dead."

Cops speak

Senior Inspector Sudhir Kalekar from Borivli Police Station said, "We have not registered a case in this matter yet. Our two constables were on duty and rushed to this spot and they rescued people from the society. The fire started in the A wing of the society. Our teams went to the B wing terrace, which is connected to A Wing, and rescued the residents. We are yet to get a report on how the fire broke out from the fire brigade. If anybody is found guilty, we will take strict action."

Fire Station Officer Amit Padwal said, "We rushed to the spot in 10 minutes and doused the fire in another 10 minutes. When we were rushing the residents downstairs, one of them told us about their pet dog still being in the flat. When we reached, we saw that the dog had died of suffocation."

He added, "We found that the society's fire system was not functional, which led to the fire spreading to other floors. We will take action in this matter. We are waiting for the final report on how the fire broke out."

Meanwhile, the residents of the building are out of electricity and water in their flats and hence vacated the same. The building members have made arrangements in a banquet hall for residents who do not have family or friends living nearby.