Hyderabad: Over 100 children at a playschool in Manikonda had a narrow escape from a fire, triggered by a malfunctioning air-conditioning unit, on Tuesday afternoon. There was no injury or casualty in the incident.
The fire caused brief panic among parents, who rushed to the school to pick up their children, who had already been evacuated by the school staff to an adjacent building before the rescue teams and police reached the spot.
According to the Raidurgam police, a girl student of nursery at the Jolly Kids Play School in Manikonda noticed sparks emanating from an indoor AC unit at 12.15 pm and alerted her teacher, identified as J. Satish, by which time the circuit had burnt and the AC went up in flames.
Satish said: “As soon as we spotted sparks, we alerted other staff and ‘ayahs’, who rescued the kids and shifted them to our other branch in the adjacent building. At the time of the fire, there were 20 kids in the class. We first rescued them, informed electricians to shut power supply to the entire building and simultaneously alerted teachers and ‘ayahs’ in five other classes.”
Over 12 staff members and the ayahs escorted the kids safely through the staircase, along with their belongings, to the adjacent building, Satish said.
An eyewitness, requesting anonymity, said: “As there was an overload on the single-phase meter, we arranged for electricians who were conducting repairs at the time of the fire. They opened the MCP to switch on the air conditioner, when the circuit board of the indoor unit got burnt due to a short circuit and the unit erupted in flames.”
“Toys and chairs placed in the fire-hit class were burnt and the entire walls were blackened due to the dark smoke. Luckily, the kids had safely reached the other building by then,” the source said.
A schoolteacher said that immediately after the rescue, they offered water to the children.
“I checked the building again, enquired with the staff and checked the student count with the attendance register to ensure that all of them were rescued,” the teacher said.
“We informed the parents, who were worried, but after they found their loved ones safe, they thanked us and our school buses dropped the children to their destinations safely,” the teacher said.
“We will keep the school closed for a couple of days to rectify the electrical problem and replace the house wiring accordingly. We also informed the parents,” the teacher said.
M. Srinivas, a parent who was at the school to pick up his child, said: “I heard kids shouting and the school staff running along with them to another building. When I enquired with a teacher, I was told that an air-conditioner got burnt and that the kids were safe. I informed my wife and we first collected our daughter. By then, many other parents had also arrived and were relieved with the rescue.”
B. Satish, sub-inspector, Raidurgam police, said: “We received a call at 12.20 pm. By the time our teams, DRF and fire tenders reached Madhapur, the play school staff had already rescued over 100 kids to their other branch in the same lane.”
Electricians said that an air-conditioner needs at least 16-25-ampere MCP to bear the load.
“There may be a problem in the indoor circuit, connector or wiring. People should divide equal load of power on their electric meters,” Preet Pal Singh, a senior electrician, said.
The SI said: “Our teams, along with the fire officials, visited and checked the scene during preliminary investigation. We concluded short circuit to be the reason. No other property, except the indoor air conditioner, was gutted.”
