Thane: Fire breaks out at office in industrial complex; no casualty

A fire broke out in the office in industrial complex in Thane city of Maharashtra early Thursday morning an official said reported news agency PTINo person was injured in the blaze he said adding that two rooms on the first floor of a twostorey building in the industrial complex suffered damages reported PTIThe fire broke out at 432 am in the engineering office of Supertech Instrumentation Service I Pvt Ltd at the Vardhaman Industrial Complex in Gokul Nagar Thane Municipal Corporations disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said reported PTIFurniture fixtures materials airconditioning units documents and computers were damaged in the affected office rooms each spanning 1200 square feet after the fire broke out in office in industrial complex reported PTIThe Plaster of Paris ceiling in one of the rooms collapsed during the incident the official said reported PTIAfter being alerted local firefighters and the disaster management cell team rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control by 6 am he said reported PTIThe cause of the fire is under investigationMeanwhile according to Mumbai fire brigade as many as 33 persons were killed and about 300 injured in over 5000 fires in Mumbai last yearThe countrys financial capital reported 5074 fire incidents last year a rise of 15 per cent over 4417 such cases in the metropolis in 2022 said the Mumbai Fire BrigadeOf the fires reported in the city between January 1 and December 31 last year the month of November when Diwali was celebrated saw the highest at 655 It was followed by 519 incidents in February and 503 incidents in June as per the dataThe blaze at the Jay Bhavani SRA building at Goregaon in Western Mumbai was one of the biggest fire incidents in the recent past The incident in October 2023 claimed eight lives and left several others injuredAmong last years other such big incidents was the fire at Veena Santoor building in Borivali West in which three people lost their lives and a few others were injured on October 20As per fire brigades data the city has registered a significant rise in the number of fire incidents casualties and injuries in 2023 as compared to the previous yearThe metropolis had reported 4417 incidents in 2022 in which 13 people lost their lives and 160 were injured In 2021 as many as 19 people had died and 173 people were injured in 4065 fire incidentsIn the last three years almost 65 people have lost their lives including 33 in 2023 in fire incidents and scores of others have been injured Fire brigade officials and fire experts have advocated for stricter rules and the implementation of fire safety regulationsRN Ambulgekar chief fire officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade said that about 80 per cent of the total fire incidents in the city occur due to electrical failures stressing the need for electrical audits and IoTbased Internet of Things systemsWe need mandatory electrical audits and IoTbased systems which give prior indications of electrical failures in buildings to prevent future fire incidents Ambulgekar said in an official statementHe added that the Mumbai civic body is coordinating with the Energy Department and pushing for mandatory incorporation of electrical audits of buildingsWith inputs from PTI