Surat: Onlookers in Sagrampura had their hearts in the mouth seeing four persons including a woman and child hanging precariously from the fourth-floor apartment, nearly 35 foot above the ground, trying to save themselves from a fire in their house, on Monday.
The family risked their lives out of panic after fire broke out in the the five-storey Arjun Apartment. As smoke started spreading, the family of Irfan Mandapwala rushed out of the window and decided to get into the adjoining building one by one.
Mandapwala stood on the canopy of the third-floor window and helped women and children from his house to come out from the window.
“I could not think of any other option but to get out from the window and into the adjoining building window to save the lives of my children and the women of my family. I did what I thought best since there was a lot of smoke in the stairs. The window was the only escape route,” said Mandapwala.
The fire was minor and controlled within minutes by Surat Fire and Emergency Services (SFES) but the smoke spread in the building created panic among residents, said officials.
The fire was reported to the fire brigade at around 11.15 am and within five minutes a team of Majura fire station team reached there. “The family took the dangerous step out of panic before we reached,” said Nilesh Dave, in-charge fire officer, Majura fire station.
“We controlled the fire within 10 minutes. It was a minor fire in the electricity meter box but the smoke spread in the apartment created panic,” Dave added.
Fire team had to struggle to reach the spot due to narrow lanes in Sagrampura. “The haphazard parking in the narrow lanes created hindrance for us to reach there. The building is also a narrow construction,” said SFES officials.
The sight was similar to the tragic Takshashila Arcade fire of May 2019 when those trapped inside the top floor of the building fell on ground from the fourth floor while hanging out from the window.