Hyderabad: A massive fire broke out in a lodge at Shamshabad in the early hours of Wednesday. The 15 residents of the lodge who were sleeping at that time panicked seeing the thick smoke which had spread up to the first floor. Fire and police officials said the fire started in a doctor’s room in the ESI dispensary on the ground floor of the building when an 11 KV line fell on a low tension line supplying power to the lodge and nearby buildings. There were no casualties.
An eyewitness said the fire began at around 5.30 am on the ground floor of Anupama Residency Lodge in Madhura Nagar. Soon after receiving an alert the fire department sent three fire tenders from Chandulal Baradari, Rajendranagar and Maheshwaram along with a Bronto Skylift to rescue people stuck in the building.
By the time fire teams arrived locals had alerted residents of the lodge. They fled to the terrace and were brought down through the staircase after the fire was put out. The firemen controlled the fire after a 45-minute battle. An eyewitness, Mr Chakravarthy, said he saw sparks in the doctor's room and immediately alerted residents.
Dispensary joint director Dr Padmaja said the fire caused a damage of '40 lakh on the ground floor. “The store and lab equipment were burnt. But the medicines in the cellar are safe,” she said.
Lodge manager Raj said they suffered a loss of '40 lakh. The furniture on the ground floor, at the reception and on the first floor were gutted. “The building had no fire extinguishing equipment and we failed in controlling the fire initially. The building has all documents. The dispensary is small and there were no inpatients. All residents are safe,” he said.
The residents said the lodge’s first floor also caught fire. “A couple from Tamil Nadu were on the first floor. They rushed out covering themselves with a blanket. The couple came 10 days ago,” they said.
RGIA SI L. Ramesh Naik said a case was registered suo moto.
TIMELINE
5:30 am - Fire breaks out
6:00 am - Residents alerted and fire service informed
6:30 am - Fire extinguishing team arrives
7:00 am - Operation begins
9:00 am - Fire put out
Many domestic appliances destroyed
The houses and buildings near Anupama Residency Lodge were also affected by the fire.
The residents of Madhura Nagar in Shamshabad had a narrow escape. But their domestic appliances like fridge, TV, lights etc got burnt. Police said that no complaint was received from the public regarding the damage to domestic appliances.
Mr Madhu Sudhan Reddy, a resident said, “I saw the fire spread while going for a walk at 5:40 am. By that time the fire service and the police were informed”.
Sarpanch Siddeshwar said there is no fire station in Shamshabad. “Shamshabad is a mandal and has 24 panchayats. The mishap ocurred due to a short circuit. We will ask our officials to check nearby lodges and see whether they have proper safety measures or not. If they don’t have safety measures in place the lodges will be seized,” he said.
