KLK Estate fire traps firemen, finally rescued

HYDERABAD: For city fire personnel, Wednesday’s blaze at Khan Lateef Khan (KLK) Estate was a test of I their nerves. The officers were kept on their toes for nearly 30 minutes as there was no trace of two of their men fighting the fire.
The two fire personnel — Rahul and Dharma Rao — went to rescue two on the sixth floor of the commercial building, but inadvertently got trapped in a smoke-filled room. Fellow firemen were not able to locate the duo. After a tense wait of nearly 30 minutes, the two were spotted waiving at fire personnel working with the aid of torch lights. Using oxygen support, the fire personnel broke a door and rescued them.


Fire safety equipment at building was not working: Dist fire officer

Earlier in the day, when firefighting was on, Hyderabad additional commissioner of police (Law and Order) DS Chauhan said two persons, including a woman, were trapped in a portion of Khan Lateef Khan (KLK) Estate at Fateh Maidan. They then called their colleagues who in turn alerted the police and shared the information with fire officials. Rahul and Dharma Rao went to the rescue of the duo and helped them reach the staircase in thick smoke.

“But with the smoke completely engulfing them, we could not leave the place. So, we went to a room on the sixth floor to be safe and informed our colleagues. To locate us, it took some time due to zero visibility,” Rahul said, recalling the tense moments.

District fire officer (DFO) M Sreenivas Reddy and fireman B Ramesh were constantly in touch with the trapped colleagues and were scouring rooms in the dark. Finally, they could see Rahul and Dharma Rao shouting and waving their hands. “We could hear them shout, but we were unable to locate them. Ramesh and I broke the door of the room where Rahul and Dharma Rao were trapped,” the district fire officer said.

At Khan Lateef Khan building, fire safety equipment, including hydrants, extinguishers and related motors needed to pump water were not working, the district fire officer added.

“It made the rescue operation difficult. We had to physically take a water hose inside the building and bring in an aerial ladder fire extinguishers to the spot,” the district fire officer further said.