A fire erupted on the 12th floor of a 28-storey residential tower at Ivy County in Noida's Sector 75 on Friday morning, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky and triggering panic among residents. The incident comes just days after a deadly blaze at a Delhi bed-and-breakfast claimed 21 lives, keeping the National Capital Region on edge.
Fire Contained to One Flat
The fire broke out around 7 am in flat 1204 of Tower B-2, likely due to a short circuit in an air conditioner, according to residents. As flames spread inside the apartment, dense smoke filled the upper corridors, forcing scores of families to rush down staircases and use lifts to evacuate to the lobby. The society's maintenance staff activated the in-house fire safety system before firefighting teams arrived, which Chief Fire Officer Pradeep Kumar Chaubey credited as critical in containing the blaze to just one flat.
Seven fire tenders were deployed, and maintenance personnel worked the hydrant network within the complex, connecting hose pipes to tackle the blaze while continuously cooling adjacent areas. A hydraulic platform was also positioned as a precaution for upper-floor evacuation, though all residents had already exited safely.
Challenges Faced by Firefighters
One of the biggest challenges was burning debris falling from the affected flat that threatened to ignite balconies on lower floors. With the risk of vertical spread—similar to a fire at Gaur Green Avenue in Indirapuram this April that raced up five floors and gutted eight flats—teams deployed cooling operations around adjoining apartments. The fire was brought under control in under an hour, and no injuries were reported. However, the flat was completely gutted, with furniture, appliances, and household belongings destroyed.
Firefighting Preparedness Under Scrutiny
The incident once again put NCR's firefighting preparedness in the spotlight. A video recorded by a resident and shared on social media appeared to show water jets spraying only as high as the fifth floor while flames raged on the 12th, drawing swift criticism. CFO Chaubey explained that water was being directed from ground level to lower floors to prevent sparks and falling debris from igniting lower balconies. He added that the effective operational reach of a manual hose line, combining hose length extended over stairs and jet throw, is 100 metres.
However, the maximum reach of hydraulic cranes in Noida remains 42 metres, or roughly 14 storeys. Atop a hydraulic ladder, a water stream can extend a further 10 to 15 metres—approximately three additional floors—depending on water pressure, making firefighting on higher floors a challenge. For a city where premium condominiums routinely rise to 25 to 30 storeys, a large portion of real estate remains beyond the reach of ground-based firefighting.
More than 200 residents were evacuated as smoke engulfed the upper floors. The fire department stated that the video showing limited water reach was misleading, as it captured cooling operations for lower floors rather than direct firefighting efforts.
