NEW DELHI: The massive fire at the All India Medical Sciences that affected five floors in its teaching block was completely doused on Sunday.
The fire, which was reported at 4.55 pm on Saturday, was under control by 6.25 pm, but took about seven hours to extinguish.
“Our vans returned from the spot today (Sunday) afternoon after there was no scope for any danger,” a Delhi Fire Services official said.
As the building is a non-patient area and had about four to five people inside, no human life was harmed, but emergency services at the hospital were closed down as the emergency department building stands adjacent to the teaching block.
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A senior fire official said that their sky lift, which can reach a height of 70 feet and is used to douse fires in high-rise buildings, could not go up the building as there were “hurdles” in the “approach path”.
“We had just one path,” he said, adding that the fire could have been extinguished “much earlier” otherwise.
Union Health Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday reviewed the situation on-site at AIIMS. The Minister directed the AIIMS administration to conduct a comprehensive fire audit at the institute.
A committee has been set up to restore full functionality of services affected in the teaching block.
The fire officials’ report and the forensic report which will ascertain the cause of the fire, is awaited.
A case under section 285 (Negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered.
The emergency services at the hospital resumed on Sunday. “The routine OPD, surgeries and emergency services at AIIMS will continue to run normally on Monday,” the AIIMS administration said, adding: “The scheduled surgeries will be performed as planned.”
Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg said the building’s No Objection Certificate was yet to be checked. “The investigation is on and we are going to check whether they have an NOC.”