Ghaziabad: A fire engulfed a three-storey house in Ghaziabad’s Pratap Vihar early Thursday, with five fire tenders taking nearly two-and-a-half hours to bring it under control, officials said. All 10 members of the family managed to escape safely.
Residents of the gutted house, who were set to host a wedding in 10 days, claimed that they suffered a loss of around ₹2.5 crore as their entire house, all cash and jewellery and other valuables were charred in the fire, which is believed to have been sparked by a short circuit in an electricity board near the entrance gate.
The family later alleged that the fire tenders reached the scene an hour after they alerted the fire department.
Fire officials, however, rejected the allegation and said that the fire control room was informed at 5.53am in Sector 11, and the five fire tenders reached the incident site within 15 minutes.
Shivam Bhadoriya, the house owner who runs a food supplement business, told HT, “Around 5.45am, my younger brother Himanshu Bhadoriya woke up and reached the ground floor of the house and noticed a fire near the electricity board. He immediately alerted us, and we informed fire department on the emergency helpline number while trying to control the blaze ourselves. By the time fire tenders reached, the fire had spread to the first floor.”
“We only found half-burnt cash in our almirah. All the jewellery is gone. Everything, including our five to six mobile phones are lost. Now, we are looking for a rental flat to stay in. After the fire broke out, my family rushed out without waiting to collect their mobile phones or valuables,” Bhadoriya added.
The fire department, however, said the family delayed in alerting the fire department.
“It has come to fore that a local milk seller spotted the fire first. He and locals gathered and shouted from outside the gates to alert the family. The fire control room received the information at 5.53am, and our fire engines reached within 15 minutes,” said Ghaziabad’s chief fire officer (CFO) Rahul Pal.