Kamala, an activist, ran helter-skelter minutes after she walked out of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) records room as she heard loud cries from the Quality Control and Laboratory office where a fire broke out on Friday (Aug. 11) afternoon.
As soon as she gathered a sense of what was happening inside, Ms. Kamala shouted, “Help! Save the people inside.” A large number of people gathered outside, and the Fire Department was called. The people inside, including the Chief Engineer (CE), started to walk out unsteadily in pain. About nine employees of the Quality Control Wing suffered burns and are currently being treated at the hospital.
Ms. Kamala said she had visited the records room located next to the room which was gutted to read some files, and after completing her work, she was walking towards the main gate of the BBMP. The fire had started when she walked past the quality control office, and she was shocked to hear the cries of the staff inside. Fire personnel successfully contained the fire between 4.30 p.m. and 4.45 p.m. Otherwise, it may have engulfed the next room, burning all the files.
The injured have been identified as Chief Engineer Shivakumar (48), Executive Engineer Santosh Kumar (45), Executive Engineer Vijayalakshmi (35), Assistant Executive Engineer Shridhar C. (40), Junior Engineer Jyothi (35), Junior Engineer Srinivas (40), Computer Operator Manoj S. (40), First Division Clerk Siraj Ahmed (28) and Executive Engineer Kiran (40).
According to a BBMP official, the staff affected suffered 35% to 40% burns. A few inhaled smoke and became unwell.
What happened
According to the fire personnel, the fire broke out from inside a machine that was in the office. In the machine, bitumen was soaked in benzene solution for quality testing of the bitumen used for laying roads. The fire personnel said due to some reaction, it exploded, blowing the machine’s lid off, resulting in a huge fireball.
The fireball that blew for several minutes in the upward direction spread to several apparatus. It also left the staff who were inside the office injured. The machine in which the testing sample was mixed with benzene did not blow into pieces; only the lid came off, making way for the fireball to leap up.
A senior official talking to The Hindu said some files were kept on the first floor, and the fire did not reach the almirahs. The official said the fire was contained immediately to ensure safety of the record rooms.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said the staff were sent to the government hospital immediately, and treatment was under way. He said the police will probe the cause of the fire in the office, and until then, he cannot make any comments. An FIR has been registered at Halasuru Gate Police Station.
