The fire was suspected to have been caused by a firecracker landing on the inflammable material of a shop below the flat. The fire station next door had no firefighting vehicle at its disposal, and the fire engine eventually arrived from Malad West. Mumbai: A minute’s delay could have turned into a tragedy for financial consultant Tejas Sheth, his wife and their six-year-old twin daughters, as a blaze caused by a stray firecracker rapidly engulfed their first-floor flat in Helios building at Thakur Village in Kandivli East—located right next to a fire station—early on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, security staff alerted other residents to evacuate the building around 2 am. I noticed that the window glass of our rented flat had started cracking due to the heat from the fire, which had spread to the flat,” said Tejas While walking out. I was told this was due to a drastic increase in fire calls that day.
He knew that someone lived in the flat, said Tejas. The security guard told him that a family stayed there and had returned home just a while earlier. “Most of the remaining part of the building remained unaffected by the fire, thanks to the firefighting efforts of Evershine Crown residents,” said Natraj Shetty, whose rented office was also destroyed in the fire. Local MLA Prakash Surve said, “The Thakur Village fire station is located right next to the building where the fire broke out, yet no fire engine was stationed there at the time.
The family owes its narrow escape to a Good Samaritan from the opposite building, Evershine Crown, who rushed out in the middle of the night and repeatedly rang their doorbell until they woke up and fled to safety. Residents of Evershine Crown helped contain the fire using the firefighting equipment available in their building. Tejas and his family returned home late Monday after visiting his in-laws on the occasion of Diwali . He was fast asleep when someone repeatedly rang their doorbell. The person, who lived in the building opposite, rushed towards the building gate to alert the family on the first floor. However, the building gate was closed, so he walked to another gate and spoke to the security guard about the fire. He also asked whether a family lived in the flat above the corner shop, which was badly affected by the fire. The Good Samaritan then rushed to the flat and repeatedly rang the doorbell, realising that the family was in imminent danger. “When I opened the door, the unknown person asked us to rush out as there was a fire on the ground floor and it was spreading to our flat. I alerted my wife, who rushed out with one of our daughters. But at the door, I realised that our other daughter was still inside the bedroom. I rushed inside and picked her up. Tejas and his family shifted to his parents’ house nearby as their flat, along with three shops on the ground floor, was completely gutted in the fire. I have asked the Chief Fire Officer to ensure that at least one firefighting vehicle remains stationed there to respond to emergencies in the Magathane-Kandivli area. Otherwise, what is the point of setting up a fire station in the area after so much persuasion?”