Hyderabad: A fire broke out at an apartment building in Manikonda on Thursday, August 27, and fire officials allegedly reached the spot 55 minutes late, with people raising concern over the delay, saying such lapses could have resulted in a major accident or loss of life.
People have also alleged that despite Film Nagar and Golconda Fire Stations being nearer to the incident spot, the call was routed to Gachibowli Fire Station, which was farther away.
Fire officials, however, denied the claim, saying they reacted immediately after receiving information from the control room, and if there was any delay, it was due to traffic and narrow lanes.
Officials say they responded in 29 minutes
A washing machine kept in the watchman’s room on the ground-floor in Tirumala Hills reportedly caught fire late on Thursday night. Videos from the incident show flames engulfing the entire room. Electrical sparks and thick smoke are also seen emerging from the site.
The fire was reported to the fire control room at 10:26 pm and the call was forwarded to Gachibowli Fire Station at 10:27 pm, a control room worker told Siasat.com.
Subsequently, a fire tender was dispatched from Gachibowli and reached the incident site in 29 minutes, Gachibowli Station Fire Officer N Srikanth told Siasat.com.
Srikanth admitted that Film Nagar Station was closer, but the incident site falls under Gachibowli’s jurisdiction. “We had to cross two traffic junctions and Manikonda has narrow lanes. The last kilometre itself took six to seven minutes to travel,” Srikanth said.
The fire was doused within 10 minutes and no injuries were reported.
Hyderabad District Fire Officer T Venkanna defended his department, saying sometimes the public itself delays informing about the fire. “We are working very hard night and day to ensure that there is no loss of life or property. Sometimes, the public does not alert the officials, thinking they might get in trouble,” he said.
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