The meter box was closed in the wood panel: How fire killed 17 from a family in Hyderabad’s Gulzar House

Hyderabad: Labourers working at the pearl shop in Gulzar House told the Fire Brigade department that they had often seen sparks in the meter box of the building.

Seventeen people died and more than 20 were injured near Charminar on Sunday morning when a massive fire broke out at the building. 17 members of Modi family died in the fire. Of them 9 were adults and 8 were children. One child was as young as 1.5 years old. All the slain were from the same family, sparking anger across Hyderabad.

It is a blast in compressor

Gulzar House fire did not happen because of a short circuit but a blast in the compressor.

Speaking to NewsMeter, a top official from the Electricity department said "Normally, if it a case of short circuit there will be a trip of fuse at least at one of the transformers somewhere. There should be some sequence of trip. Which was not detected in this case,".

"An Understanding that the Compressor caught fire, may be due to over heating or improper wiring which led to cylinder blast located in the building. Definitely it is not a short circuit," he told.

Was there an AC compressor blast?

In a interview with NewsMeter, Y Nagi Reddy, director general, Telangana Fire Disaster Response Emergency and Civil Defence told, "There are 4 pearl and gem stores on the ground floor, and there was wood paneling work going on in one of the stores. The fire started from the store and spread to the first floor."

The air conditioner compressor was affected due to the fire. There was no problem with the air-conditioner.” Reddy says, "Its an ongoing investigation and now the electricity department and police department will carry out their investigations. The report from the fire, electricity and police will be submitted to the government."

Red flame and heat traps

The fire brigade officials said that the red flame of the fire was akin to those of the furnace. The officials who were extinguishing the fire said that such a red flame has not been seen by them in such incidents. The red flame in the Gulzar House fire was a major challenge for the fire fighters.

Fire brigade received information at 6.16 am and the first vehicle from Moghalpura reached at 6.20 am.

“Our officers were taken aback by the colour of the fire. The red flame that was at the site of the fire was that of a furnace. This means that there were chemicals in the stores when the fire occurred. There was also some wood panelling work which was pending as there were materials found in the store,” Reddy said.

Meter box closed

The meter box is closed in the wood panel. The meter box from where the fire is suspected to have started was covered with a wooden panel. “We spoke to the labourers who work in the shop, and they said that they had seen sparks in the meter box earlier,” Reddy said.

Old buildings and crowded areas

The building at Gulzar House is estimated to be 125 years old. There was only one entrance to the building. The fire started from the ground floor making it difficult to enter inside.

“The building structure was old, and the air circulation was poor. The ground floor and first floor were like an exhaust, and due to this firefighters encountered a lot of heat. This heat, materials of pearls and gems, furniture in the jewelry stores, and wood panels all contributed to the crisis. The thick black smoke affected the two floors. And the vent was on the topside, which caused all the smoke to blow out,” explained Reddy.

With the area being crowded and buildings being close by, fire brigade officials faced several challenges. These include:

* With only one staircase and less than 1 meter wide, it became difficult to go up

* With the staircase close to the fire area, there was excessive heat, and it was filled with smoke

* Old buildings do not have alternate access in terms of a staircase

* The access area was completely blocked with bikes, which were immediately removed

Firebrigade department recommendation for Old City

Firebrigade officials are assessing the situation and a forensic team is also being sent to check if there was any sabotage. The four shops are fully gutted, and an assessment will be done of the materials stored.

“The shops also did not have a single fire extinguisher,” explained Nagi Reddy.

Old City area has a lot of old buildings and they are in close proximity of each other. Nagi Reddy says, ”Just like we have a regulation for high-rise buildings it is important to have a regulation for ground plus two-floor buildings. This incident shows that there was a mix of commercial and residential area and the guidelines of fire safety must be followed by both.”

Fire brigade department in the last two years has done more than 8000 awareness campaigns and they are urging people to follow fire safety rules and also opt for basic smoke detectors and fire extinguishers which are the first line of defence against fire. The department is working on points which can be especially recommended for Old City areas which they want to make it easy for people to comply and follow.