Several residents of Diamond City North, a housing complex in northeast Kolkata with more than 1,000 flats, alleged that multiple firefighting gadgets did not operate when a fire broke out on the 16th floor of a tower on Wednesday.
Residents said they did not hear the alarm bell go off or see water sprinklers come alive when their staircase was engulfed in thick smoke.
According to some residents, the water sprinklers and the fire alarms, which should have been activated on their own, were not working. However, the fire hydrants were operational, which helped contain the blaze.
“We found that the basic firefighting mechanism was working. There was adequate pressure in the fire hydrant on the 16th floor, which helped our men douse the flames with the help of their in-house firefighting mechanism. Else, it would have been difficult to draw water to the 16th floor to extinguish the fire,” said Ranveer Kumar, director general of the fire and emergency services department.
A resident of the 10th floor of the affected tower told The Telegraph that although they had smoke alarms on all floors, the fire alarm was not set off.
“We were alerted by the security staff,” the resident said.
Abhijit Bose, vice-president of the residents’ welfare association of the complex, said he was not aware whether any of the firefighting gadgets malfunctioned on Wednesday.
“We have two trained personnel who are in charge of the firefighting installations. The staff routinely carry out drills. All the firefighting tools will be reviewed,” Bose said.
Several residents said the building staff played a “proactive” role in rescuing residents and alerting them about the fire on time.
Each housing society has a unique safety protocol, depending on the height of the building, floor space and the building’s structure.
“But the basic mechanism in every building should be the same. The presence of water reservoirs, fire hydrants, presence of fire extinguishers and routine training,” said an official in the fire department.
