Fire at south Mumbai mall under control after 18 hours

At least 3,500 residents of a 55-storey high-rise were evacuated after a major fire was reported in the neighbouring four-storey City Centre Mall on Bellasis Road in Mumbai Central around 9pm on Thursday. The fire was brought under control after more than 18 hours, with 88 tankers and over 250 firemen. While no resident or visitor was hurt, four firemen and one deputy fire officer suffered injuries. The dousing was going on at the time of going to press. The cause is not yet known.

The fire was reported in a shop on the second floor of the mall at 8.53pm on Thursday, as a level 1 (small fire). It soon spread to other floors and the Mumbai fire brigade declared it a brigade call – level 5, a rare event in which the chief fire officer is required to be present – at 2.42am.

Each floor of the mall has about 300 to 400 shops. The second and third storey of the building was completely charred. According to fire officers, dousing the fire took time owing to the huge stock of electronic items, including mobile phones, batteries and circuit. It spread owing to the sanitisers, they added.

A senior fire officer said, “It was a huge area, and there was a lot of combustible material inside the building. Malls usually have air-conditioning and are completely closed. This building had a glass façade and glass lining the building. We had no option, but to do fire-fighting from inside. It was very challenging, as we were standing in the atrium inside the building, and the roof was falling off on firefighters’ heads.”

A civic official said, “The smoke was very thick and a few residents from the adjoining building had already begun to vacate premises. Later, all residents were safely evacuated from the adjoining building with the help of Mumbai Police.”

While the Mumbai Police and ward staff cleared the entire road for traffic and cordoned off a stretch of 100 metres, chunks of concrete and glass from the facade were falling off.

The fire brigade suspects a short-circuit led to the fire. Ganesh Purohit, who has rented two shops on the first and third floor to a mobile phone accessories store in the mall, said, “I was in my shop in the mall when the fire started. It started in a shop, where a small battery exploded. All nearby cartons caught fire. The shopkeeper doused the fire. In a few minutes however, the fire restarted. We called the fire brigade.”

Another shop owner who has rented out his premises to a corporate office and storage unit said, “We have been complying with fire safety rules and regular audits are done by tenants.” Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner of BMC, said, “After the fire is doused, all angles will be investigated to ascertain the cause.”

Local corporator and Bhiwandi MLA Rais Shaikh of Samajwadi Party lived on the 21st floor of the building, from where 3,500 residents were evacuated. Shaikh said, “The Mumbai fire brigade took a call around 2.30am to vacate the building. There was heavy smoke in the surroundings. Many took the lift and others used the stairs. All residents went to their relatives’ place… In the past too, I had brought it into notice of the fire brigade. If there was proper fire safety equipment in the mall, the fire would have been brought under control last night itself.”

Regarding the mall’s fire compliance, a senior officer of the Mumbai fire brigade said, “It is now a matter of investigation. A few things such as the internal hydrant system were working. We had to switch off the power and the diesel generator set. The firefighting system was connected to the DG set. Ideally there should be a DG set for the building lighting, and a separate DG set for the firefighting system.”

Prashant Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner of D ward under which the location falls, said, “There were no complaints of illegalities or violations in the last one year. However, we will investigate if any violations are found post the firefighting operations.”

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