BENGALURU: Thirteen employees of a private company escaped unhurt after a major fire broke out in the basement of their office building in the city on Friday, thanks to a fire safety training provided to them a few days ago.It was work as usual for the employees of Business Solution Ltd at the Miracle Drinks complex on 80ft Road in RT Nagar.
Aravind, an employee of the company, noticed sparks in one of the generators in the basement of the building around 1.50pm. Soon, the generator caught fire. Aravind attempted to douse the fire with the help of an extinguisher, but could not. He rushed to the first floor and alerted other employees there. By then, the fire spread to other parts of the building. All 13 employees took the staircase to the second floor and were looking for ways to get out of the building.
Meanwhile, a ladder was reached out to them from an adjacent building. By the time personnel from the Fire and Emergency Services Department arrived at the spot, five employees reached the adjacent building safely through the ladder. The rest were rescued by the firefighters.
“We received fire safety training sometime ago and it helped us in escaping unhurt. Five of us could reach the adjacent building with the help of the ladder. Later, the firefighters rescued the remaining employees. Two employees faced breathing problems and were rushed to a nearby hospital,” Aravind told TNIE.
The company has 50 employees and only 13 were in office on Friday. The rest worked from home. Twenty-five motorcycles and some boxes containing ayurvedic products were destroyed in the fire that engulfed the basement, according to sources.
Deputy Director (Fire Prevention) Dr Yunus Ali said six fire tenders took three hours to douse the fire. The reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained. “There were generators and two-wheelers in the basement,” he added.