Two cars were damaged in a fire that broke out outside a residential building in Churchgate in the early hours of Saturday. While there were no casualties, residents said that vagrants and drug addicts routinely squat near parked cars, leading to risks of such incidents.
According to local residents, the fire started in an Innova parked outside the Aryan Mahal building on the C-Road off Marine Drive around 1.30 a.m. on Saturday. Security guards at the building called the fire brigade control room and a fire tender from the Colaba fire station was rushed to the spot. Watchmen tried to locate the owners of the car, which was double parked on the road.
“Double parking on this road has led to a lot of problems for us. After the fire broke out, The watchmen literally had to go door to door to trace the owners, who stay on the same road. The fire also damaged another car parked in front of it (the Innova). Even when the fire tender reached, it could not enter the lane due to the lack of space, and the firefighters had to pull the pipes inside on foot,” Poonam Jhaveri Gandhi, a resident of the area said.
Fire officials said that once the fire tender reached the spot, the blaze was put out within 10 minutes. Only the Innova and a Honda car parked next to it were damaged and there was no harm to or loss of life in the incident.
Ankit Tolia, another resident and member of the Federation of Churchgate Residents, said,
“We have faced a lot of trouble from streetside drug addicts who smoke up while sitting next to cars parked in our area at night. We suspect that the fire could have started due to such activities. We have tried raising this issue with the authorities in the past.”