This story is from June 9, 2021

Kolkata: Fire in Park St high-rise, employees evacuated

A fire broke out on the fifth floor of Apeejay House on Park Street — a landmark building in central Kolkata that has witnessed multiple fire incidents in the past few years — triggering panic in the area.
Kolkata: Fire in Park St high-rise, employees evacuated
The fire broke out at the office of a pharmaceutical firm, next to a private bank on the fifth floor of Block C in Apeejay House on Tuesday
KOLKATA: A fire broke out on the fifth floor of Apeejay House on Park Street — a landmark building in central Kolkata that has witnessed multiple fire incidents in the past few years — triggering panic in the area.
The ongoing enhanced safety restrictions ensured that most of the offices were shut and there were not many employees at the building when the fire was spotted around 2.40pm.
By the time firemen reached the spot and started dousing the fire, every one inside the building could be safely evacuated.
repeated blazers (1)

The nine-storey building, spread over three blocks, houses around two dozen offices. On Tuesday, the fire had broken out at the office of a pharmaceutical firm, next to a private bank on the fifth floor of Block C. Although the office was closed, there were some bank employees who were evacuated immediately after the fire alarm rang and the security guards alerted the employees. There were some employees at a private office in the commercial building as well, who had reportedly come for an in-office vaccination drive but fire or police officials couldn’t confirm it.
“The fire started inside a closed office of the pharma company. However, firemen reached the building fast and contained the fire within the office itself. The fire was doused in less than two hours,” said Firhad Hakim, chairman of the board of administrators at Kolkata Municipal Corporation. To control the fire, firemen had to break down the glass window panes and sprayed water from inside as well as outside the building. State fire minister Sujit Bose also visited the spot, overseeing the fire-fighting operations as firemen on 12 fire tenders and a hydraulic ladder doused the flames by 4.15pm.

“I was at my store when there was a sudden commotion and people started running out of the building. I also came out and saw thick black smoke billowing out of a fifth floor window. The sight was scary,” said Samir Sadhukhan, who works at a confectionery unit on the ground floor of the building.
Incidentally, there was a fire on the sixth floor of the same building in 2012 while another fire had broken out on the fifth floor in 2018.
“We will conduct an inquiry into Tuesday’s fire to find out the seat of blaze and will also expand the scope of investigation to find out the reason behind multiple instances of fire at this building,” said a senior official of the fire and emergency services department.
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