Fire on the 9th Floor: 27 pulled to safety as Mumbai's Jogeshwari office building erupts in flames
While there were no fatalities, falling shards of glass from window panes that kept blowing out put several lives in danger including those on the street below.
A suspected short circuit on the ninth floor of JMS Business Centre, a commercial building in Jogeshwari West, ignited a fire that turned into an inferno within minutes on Thursday morning. But providence was on the side of the 27 people who were rescued.
While there were no fatalities or injuries, falling shards of glass from window panes that kept blowing out put several lives in danger, including those on the street below and rescue personnel, who wrestled with the flames for four hours before extinguishing them.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) disaster cell, the blaze broke out at 10:46 am on the ninth floor. Within two minutes, it was labelled a Level 2 fire (a significant fire that has spread), and within the next six minutes, at 10:54 am, it had escalated to a Level 3 fire, the most severe level, reaching the 13th floor, or the top storey. It was extinguished by 2:20 pm, after which cooling operations began.
The building, at least 10 years old, has allegedly violated several building regulations. Worst of all, it did not have the mandatory fire non-objection certificate (NOC) – the sprinklers, fire alarms and fire extinguishers were not working. Lives were spared by the ongoing holiday season, as few people had opened their offices in the building on Thursday.
Of the 27 people rescued, 17 were taken to the HBT Trauma Care Hospital. Nine were admitted for suffocation but were discharged by late evening. Many of those rescued were visiting a physiotherapist on the 13th floor, while others had just opened their offices, and some lived on the premises.
“Initially, there was no commotion or shouting, and barely any smoke emerging from the building,” recalled Nasir Khan, a shopkeeper in the opposite lane. “We called the fire brigade when the glass window panes started to blow out and pieces started falling to the ground,” he said. “Some splinters and pieces of plastic fell onto my shop and started a small fire. Luckily, we doused it quickly,” said Khan.
Due to the Diwali break, there weren’t many passersby and not much traffic on the street below. But parked cars and two-wheelers were not spared. Ram Yadav Chawl next to the burning building was vacated as a precautionary measure.
As soon as the alarm was raised, fire tenders and tankers converged at the site from fire stations all over the western suburbs. Jet tenders, aerial work tower tenders, aerial ladders, turntable ladders and hydraulic platforms soon joined the battle to put out the blaze.
“There were a few people on the 12th floor, so we brought them to the 11th floor and rescued them with the help of the hydraulic turntable ladders,” said a fire officer. Seven people were rescued from the 13th floor, nine from the 11th floor and five from the ninth floor, while the others were guided down the stairs, according to fire officials.
Commercial establishments on the affected floors were completely gutted. All electronic and other equipment, servers, office stationery, furniture, electric wiring and ducts were reduced to cinders. “The fire-fighting system of the building was not working,” confirmed chief fire officer Ravindra Ambulgekar.
JM Business Centre has three podium floors. The first was occupied by a carpenter in a rented space separated by wooden panels; the second level was reserved for parking; and the podium floor had construction underway.
From the fourth floor upwards, each storey housed about a dozen offices. These comprised different kinds of businesses such a call centre, a travel agency, tuition classes, software services, clinics and more.
“The building was managed by the builder. And even though it is a very old building, we had not received an occupancy certificate, nor a fire NOC. The building is not well-maintained. We filed several complaints against the builder, but that went nowhere,” said Nilofer Pervez, a member of the JMS Shop Owners’ Association, which represents 108 shops.
Nadeem Bhati, a property agent rescued from the physiotherapist’s clinic, also alleged that there were numerous violations. “Even the podium floors were converted into commercial spaces, which is against building regulations. Also, the basement was turned into a warehouse for a quick commerce online store. While we tried to escape through the terrace, we found it locked. There were a lot of irregularities in the building,” said Bhati.
Assistant municipal commissioner, K West ward, Chakrapani Alle, did not confirm or deny these allegations. “The building’s OC will be investigated by the BMC’s building and factory department,” he said.
