Ghaziabad: A major fire broke out in a residential building in Shalimar Garden Extension-1 on Saturday evening, leaving twelve people stranded on the terrace for nearly an hour. The incident occurred due to a short circuit, affecting the third and fourth floors of Disha Home apartment. The trapped individuals included four minors and a senior citizen from two families.
The fire started around 7:20 pm at the residence of Ram Krishan Patel on the third floor and rapidly spread vertically to the fourth floor, damaging a flat owned by Ravi Goswami. As smoke filled the staircases and passages, both families rushed to the terrace for safety.
Upon arrival, the Sahibabad fire station team found the third and fourth floors engulfed in flames. Four additional fire engines were deployed from Loni, Vaishali, and Kotwali stations to assist in the operation. Chief fire officer Rahul Pal stated that due to heavy smoke, firefighters used breathing apparatuses to clear the way and reach the trapped individuals. They first doused the flames on the stairs, then covered the survivors with wet clothes and escorted them down to safety.
Meanwhile, twenty-five people attending a marriage anniversary party in a flat on the third floor, adjacent to the Goswamis' home, managed to evacuate the building safely just in time. No casualties were reported in the incident.
This fire comes just over a month after a similar incident in Indirapuram's Niti Khand-2, where nine family members, including two senior citizens, were trapped on the third floor following a gas cylinder explosion. In that rescue, firefighters had to break through an iron grille and a setback wall to reach the stranded individuals.
