A massive fire, the third one in the national capital in as many days, on Thursday destroyed a four-storey building belonging to the gifts store, Archies, in west Delhi’s Naraina industrial area.

The fire raged for nearly 12 hours and gutted almost the while building, constructed over a 1,000 square metre plot. No one was killed or injured in the incident, the fire department said.

According to Atul Garg, chief fire officer (Delhi Fire Services), the four-storey building did not have a no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department, a must for all buildings.

“There was also a delay of over an hour in alerting the fire department about the blaze. By the time we reached the spot, the fire was already out of control,” Garg said.

The delay in alerting fire officers had also happened when a fire broke out Karol Bagh’s Hotel Arpit Palace on Tuesday, a tragedy that left 17 persons dead.

The Archies website shows that the building serves as the company’s corporate office. However, Garg as well as some employees, who did not reveal their identities, said the structure also served as the factory-cum-store for many kinds of gifts produced by the firm.

The building is located along a wide road in Naraina Industrial Area Phase 1. Guards said most employees leave the office around 6pm and return by 9am.

The blaze was reported to the fire department at 7.10am, Garg said. “But the fire had started around 6am. A spark in the metre board in the reception area triggered the blaze. The guards tried to douse the flames and alerted us after their efforts failed,” Garg said.

A security guard, who didn’t want to be identifies, said he and his colleagues used nearly 25 fire extinguishers, but their efforts were in vain. Hours later, several fire extinguishers were seen lying outside the reception area of the building.

The firefighters sent 20 fire tenders initially, but soon had to send an additional 10 vehicles. “The building also stored large quantities of foam sprays that are used in celebrations. These sprays made the fire spread quickly. We had to use nearly 40 fire tenders to contain the blaze,” Garg said.

Firefighters said the building also stored large quantities of paper and cards, which burnt quickly and produced dense smoke.

“Without oxygen masks, we wouldn’t have survived 30 seconds inside,” a firefighter who, along with his colleagues, hurled bricks at the glass panes of the building in an effort to create more openings.

Since the dense smoke obstructed access to the building, dousing the flames became a tough task. Even eight hours after the blaze began, firefighters found it difficult to effectively penetrate the building and douse the flames.

“We managed to control the fire by 7pm. Cooling operations will take a few more hours,” Garg said.

Archies officials couldn’t be reached for their response on the allegations that the building does not have a NOC and that there was a delay in alerting the fire department.

Police said they were investigating the incident, but a first information report (FIR) was unlikely to be filed.

First Published: Feb 15, 2019 11:33 IST