CISF man dies trying to save people from fire at CGO Complex

NEW DELHI: A sub-officer of the Central Industrial Security Force died of suffocation in a major fire at Antyodaya Bhawan in the CGO Complex on Wednesday. He was scanning the rooms for people requiring help. The fire broke out early in the morning and engulfed the fifth floor, which houses the offices of the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment. The regular staff hadn’t yet arrived at that time, but some sanitation workers were cleaning the premises and some security guards were present. They were guided out to safety by fire officials and CISF personnel.

During the search for a missing sanitation worker, sub-officer M P Godara opened a door and was smothered by dense smoke, leaving him unconscious on the floor. “We found him only after the cooling operations were over,” said chief fire officer Atul Garg. Godara. 55, was driven to AIIMS, where he died while receiving treatment. Godara’s body was taken to his village in Churu, Rajasthan, for the last rites on Wednesday evening.


Garg said that the fire services received a call at 8.24am from the CISF control room. Ten fire tenders were rushed to the spot. However, when the fire spread to another floor, 14 more fire tenders were requisitioned. The blaze appeared to have begun in the corner of the fifth floor that had some offices and spread rapidly when the wooden cubicles caught fire. Important documents pertaining to the disability section of the social justice ministry were lost in the inferno.

“We managed to douse the fire around 10.50am and started the cooling operation, after which CISF teams began scanning the floors for casualties,” said Garg.

Fire officials said that besides Godara, there were no casualties due to the quick action by CISF and firemen in rescuing the dozen people trapped on the upper floors. A man lift was used to bring some of them down from the sixth floor, though most were escorted down the stairs.

Umesh Kumar, a tea stall owner who witnessed the whole affair, claimed that the fire department reached the CGO complex half an hour after being informed because, he said, they had to negotiate the morning traffic. The CISF personnel and some private security guards tried to pour water on the flames, but could not stop them from engulfing the entire floor.

Police said later that a case for causing mischief due to fire and causing death due to negligence had been registered. “We called the crime and forensic teams to scour the premises and establish the cause of fire. We also evacuated the entire building to carry out checks,” said Vijay Kumar, DCP (South).