HYDERABAD: A serious fire broke out at a fire equipment store in Secunderabad’s West Marredpally on Thursday. One man was killed and two others were injured, including fire safety personnel. As many as ten persons were rescued. The building is reported to have housed aerosol propellant, which seems to have caused the penthouse’s roof to blow up.
The fire broke out at Reliance Fire and Safety Limited, located near West Marredpally police station. The building was a residential-cum-business office, used as a transit point to store fire safety equipment.
At about 11:00 am, residents in the neighbourhood heard a loud blast from the direction of the building. One of the workers, J Raju (30), who maintained the company’s records, died due to severe burns almost immediately, said fire safety personnel. They added that the multiple units of unused aerosol propellants in the facility increased the intensity of the fire. Another person, Prasad Rao (60) was also injured.
In the meantime, fire service personnel reached the location. One of the first responders, J Venkatesh, got injured while rescuing people from the facility.
“At least ten people were rescued from the place of fire. The building saw multiple explosions due to the presence of aerosol. It took us three hours to douse the flames,” said Harsha Mohan Rao, Station Fire Officer, Secunderabad fire station.
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. It is suspected that there could have been a gas leakage or a short-circuit in the room. The loss of property is still to be assessed.
Police have registered a complaint and an investigation is underway.
HC wants disaster mgmt plan for Numaish
A division bench of Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the Hyderabad District Collector to hold a joint meeting with the concerned officials of police, GHMC, Pollution Control Board, electricity and fire services departments and to submit a comprehensive report before it in two weeks in respect of averting disasters in conducting Numaish at Nampally Exhibition grounds from next year onwards. The bench also directed the District Collector to assist the court in arriving at a fool-proof disaster management plan for conducting Numaish. The bench directed the Collector to submit a comprehensive report.