Massive Fire Breaks Out at Mumbai’s Patel Chambers, 2 Injured in Partial Collapse

Mumbai: A massive fire broke out at Patel Chambers in Mumbai's fort area on Saturday morning, bringing down a portion of the building. No fatality was reported, while two fire fighters were injured.

Nearly 16 fire tenders were pressed into service as level-3 fire (that requires immediate evacuation) escalated to level-4, which led to the collapse of a portion of the old building. A fire official said that the blaze started around 4 am and engulfed most part of the structure by 6:30 am.

"The fire brigade personnel were injured when the portion of the building, called Kothari building (also known as the Light Of Asia), collapsed during the fire-fighting operation," he added. The ground-plus-five-storey structure in the Fort area, a major business district, is old and its southern part crumbled while the personnel were putting out the blaze.

The exact cause of fire is not known yet. Fire department officials confirmed no one was trapped inside the building as the structure was unoccupied for the last four years.

"The fire started from the fourth or fifth floor, and our motive was to not let the fire spread to the nearby buildings. As Patel Chambers had some wood work, the blaze spread rapidly," Chief Fire Officer said.

A fire official said that it will take some more time to douse the fire as it was intense (News18)

This is the second incident of major fire in the area in last 10 days. A level-4 fire had engulfed the Income Tax office in South Mumbai's Scindia House last Friday. Even as eight people were initially stranded on the terrace, no casualties were reported in the incident.

Meanwhile, a fire also broke out in the neighbouring state of Gujarat after a slab from the third floor of a dyeing mill in Surat's Pandesara area fell and injured 35 labourers. The slab hit an oil pipe, which led to a leakage that caused the blaze.