Towering inferno: 1,000 techies escape
32 fire tenders,100 fire personnel, 35 Civil Defence men fight blaze
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-07-19 06:08 GMT
Bengaluru: In one of the major building fires in the city after Carlton Tower tragedy in 2010, around thousand-odd employees at AMR Tech Park II had a miraculous escape after a fire broke out during the lunch hour on Friday.Thirty-two fire tenders and nearly 100 fire brigade men fought the fire for over eight hours before bringing it under control.The fire was noticed around 1.30 pm on the third floor of the four-storeyed Tech Park building on Hosur Main Road in Hongasandra. It soon spread to all the four floors, triggering the fire alarms. The employees, who were on a lunch break, followed the fire drill and came out of the building unscathed.
The intensity of the fire was so high that it spread to all the four floors within minutes. The employees who came down through the fire exits started informing and checking on the missing colleagues, who were soon evacuated. The fire personnel rescued an employee after breaking open a lift, which he had entered in panic. The people are advised not to use lifts during a fire.
The fire started from the wire box in the corner of third floor and spread to the carpet, furniture and computers.Around 100 firemen and 35 personnel from the Civil Defence Force fought the fire. Fire and Emergency IGP K.L. Sudhir said that it is too early to ascertain the reason for the fire. “There are a number of companies and hotels around the building that is on fire. We used our full force to contain the fire,” he said.
The fire and thick smoke from the building caused a massive traffic jam on Hosur Road. Anubhav Sri, an eyewitness who works in the next building, said, “When I looked out of my office window, I saw thick smoke coming out of the next building. I immediately alerted other colleagues on our floor.”
some employees braved the smoke and fire to retrieve their laptops and some discs. A team of employees, firemen and security guards made a human chain on the first floor to gather electronic gadgets, like laptops, cell phones and television sets.
Ten firemen, who complained of breathlessness, were taken to a hospital. Three of them came out of the building first, with severe bouts of coughing. They were treated in the 108 ambulance on the spot, and later shifted to the hospital. All the ten were discharged from the hospital later in the day.