Ahmedabad: Fire in tyre shop in residential building; 60 trapped people rescued

A tyre warehouse below Shreeji Tower — a residential building on the Drive-In Road opposite Himalaya Mall — was gutted on Monday. Clouds of smoke engulfed the 9-storey tower, stoking panic among residents who either escaped from the building or took refuge on the terrace.
While nobody was reported severely injured, a boy suffered minor burns, and a firefighter and a local resident had to be taken to a nearby hospital after they experienced difficulty in breathing. Three residents were provided oxygen on the spot, said EMRI 108 officials.

Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) officials doused the flames in an operation that lasted for over five hours; firefighters continued to clear the smoke till late on Monday night. Seventy firefighters and 15 vehicles were deployed for the operation.

AFES officials said they received a call about the fire at 1.30pm. M F Dastoor, the chief fire officer, AFES, said that the fire had broken out at the warehouse of Hemant Tyre Shop on the ground floor of Tower A of Shreeji Tower. "About 4,000 tyres, new and used, were burned. We are yet to ascertain what triggered the accident," he said.

About 500 residents — living in Tower A and B — were rendered homeless temporarily as firefighters evacuated about 60 persons trapped on different floors and the terrace. Jignesh Shah, who lives on the sixth floor in Tower A, had called the AFES after he saw smoke lapping the building and noticed an overpowering smell. "I had brought my son back from school when the fire broke out," Shah said. "There was panic all around as smoke drastically reduced visibility. My mother, bed-ridden for the past two years, needed evacuation. The AFES team brought her down. We are shifting to the residence of my wife’s parents; we don’t know when we can return."

The traffic from Gurukul T Junction to Drive-In was affected for about two hours as senior police officials reached the spot to disperse the crowd. "We have roped in forensic science experts to ascertain the reason for the fire," said Ashutosh Parmar, ACP, B Division. "If negligence is found to be the reason, action can be initiated against Ashwin Mittal, the owner of the shop."

Sources in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said that the shop will be served a notice on Tuesday on the basis of reports from the AFES, the estate department, and the health department. They said that a minor fire had broken out at the shop earlier this year. The shop had flouted a number of security norms including blocking the exits, they said.