BHOPAL: Amid claims of delayed response, a firefighter said the first of six tenders reached a triple-storied house in Indore’s Greater Brijeshwari Colony within 5–10 minutes of the 4 am distress call. The blaze, believed to have started due to an electric short circuit during EV charging, killed eight people and was worsened by multiple LPG cylinders stored inside.
Recounting the incident a fire brigade personnel told the TNIE that, “The fire was triggered between 3.15 and 3.30 am, by the time we reached there at around 4.10 am, the entire house was engulfed by the blaze. We first tried to spray the water from the front portion on the ground floor, but were thrown away to a distance due to the electric current flowing there. We subsequently approached from the other side.”
“Entire house had LPG domestic and commercial gas cylinders (at least 10-12 cylinders), some of which kept on blasting at regular intervals. Just when we were about to enter the house from the ground floor, one of the cylinders blasted and came flying near us like a shooting fireball. We’re fortunate that we had not entered the house by then, only seconds came in the way of our possible death due to the cylinder explosion. The other team which was attempting to enter from the top floor heard that cylinder explosion sound and told us that the entire terrace shook vigorously,” he said.
With the police also confirming presence of multiple LPG cylinders inside the house and their role in fuelling the spread of the inferno, it now remains to be seen what action is taken against the food and civil supplies department personnel, who have been tasked of ensuring no hoarding/stocking of commercial and domestic LPG cylinders across MP, in the wake of LPG gas scarcity related issues.
It’s perhaps the marriage in the house in January, which had led to the stocking of the LPG cylinders in the house, which ultimately fuelled the spread of the pre-dawn killer blaze on Wednesday, neighbours said.
Not just was the house stocked with LPG cylinders, but the genesis of the fire – the EV charging point, located just outside the house, was situated close to the electric pole and the transformer. Sparks from the short-circuit perhaps came in contact with the electric pole and resultant flashes fell on the EV (car) resulting in fire. “It soon spread inside the house where two motorbikes (including a super bike) blasted further fuelling the spread,” neighbours recounted.
One of the fire-fighters added “The top floor of the house had a store-room like arrangement, which was possibly storing some chemical or plastic/polymer material. When we were trying to break into the house through the terrace, some chemicals fell on our hand causing blisters.”
With some neighbours alleging delay in arrival of fire tenders, the urban development minister Kailash Vijayvargiya who rushed to the spot in the morning, said, “Everything will be probed by authorities, including the response by the emergency vehicles.”
Just a month and half later, the same house which had hosted the marriage of the family's second son on January 23.
“The same house which had wedding bells ringing in January, will be haunted forever with loss of lives,” said a resident of the colony, who was among those neighbours who helped save four members of the Pugalia family, which lost it’s 65-year-old head Manoj Pugalia and eldest daughter in law Simran in the pre-dawn killer blaze on Wednesday.
The 65-year-old businessman had undergone knee replacement just a month back and told the surgeon who carried out the successful total knee replacement surgery that now he would walk with elan for 25 years. “But the man who was looking forward to walking with elan for 25 years, bid adieu to the world just a month later. My tributes to him,” said Dr Ankit Hora, the knee replacement surgeon who had performed the successful knee replacement surgery.
Manoj Pugalia had three sons, who along with mother escaped from the jaws of death with the help of brave neighbours, who climbed to the house’s first floor and cut the fencing to save the foursome comprising mother and three sons. But eldest son Saurabh lost better half Simran, who as per informed sources was pregnant.
The second son who was married in January only was fortunate not just to be among the survivors, but his newly married wife too was away at parents’ home in neighbouring Jhabua district presently.
The other six who lost lives in the blaze, included Manoj Pugalia’s brother-in-law Vijay Sethia, Vijay’s wife Suman Sethia (60), the couple’s young daughter Tinu Sethia (35), her two children Rashi (12) and Tanay (8), besides Vijay’s nephew Chotu Sethia (20).
Hailing from Kishanganj (Bihar) the Sethia family were in Indore for Vijay’s head and neck cancer treatment.
