18th May, when rescue workers are preparing for an event on May 18. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
Gafoor, a private bus employee, was a dumbstruck when he saw a head worker screaming for help and pointing to a shopping complex in the heart of Kozhikode. One of the buildings in the complex was on fire.
Flames were seen quickly swirling up the windows of Calicut Textiles located near the Mofussil Bus around 17:00 18 May.
Bus drivers parked in the neighborhood with the shopping complex, quickly moved their vehicles to safety, although some passers -by dialed fire and rescue units.
As a Sunday evening, the area had a more or less abandoned view.
The silence of the evening was broken by loud fire engine sirens. The high decibel alarm forced customers from shops on the ground floor of the building. The fierce fire began to absorb the second floor of the building in no time. Huge cords of smoke emerged from the windows of the building as the flames swept through it. The building looked like a blast furnace. There was panic everywhere.
“The accident should serve as a warning to all. The company will deal with this issue and deal with shortcomings if there are. Merchants should ensure reasonable measures for fire safety in their buildings.”Take PhilipMayor of Kozhikode
The crackling sound of wood and other materials and thick layers of soot broadcast by fire painted a scary picture of the city on an otherwise secular holiday.
This was the second main fire misfortune, which the city was testified by the city over fourteen days. In the last four months, more than 150 small and larger fire incidents have been reported, pointing to fire and rescue service officers. A fire in a surgical super special block Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital 2.
Fire absorbing a shopping complex building owned by Kozhikode City Corporation 18 May | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
No time
“Flames seen in the corner of the textile shop swallowed the building in just 30 minutes. The head of the head worker has helped people clean the area quickly,” recalls Gafoor. When the fire broke out, there were several women and children in restaurants on the ground floor of the building on the ground floor. Fortunately, everyone could be evacuated in time, says Gafoor.
“The shopping complex, where a huge number of clothing has been supplied, has changed to a huge and unmanageable fire block at no time,” says ANOOP Kannan, a local retailer who watched helplessly to destroy the building.
Of all parts of the district, the fire offer has risen. The Kozhikod International Airport was also pushing the offer (specialized fire -fighting machine deployed at airports or military air foundations with which huge volumes of water can be drawn).
Several obstacles
The fire and rescue staff began his mission seriously, but faced several obstacles to control the fire. Illegal changes made in the building and converting the building space into compartment rooms and storage premises prevented rescue efforts, says KN Ashraf, a district fireman who led the rescue mission.
“The biggest challenge for rescuers was to prevent the spread of fire to nearby shops,” says E. Shihabudheen, an auxiliary station of the station, a fire station Meenchanda. Another problem was the absence of fire hydrants associated with the main water leadership, says Shihabudheen.
“We had to demolish the illegally constructed parts of the building using the Earth removal to create a pass to pump in the water and extinguish the fire. The leaves used to create illegal sections that have been prevented by measures to control fire for some time.” Even recently, experienced staff helped us in operation, he adds.
About 15 rescue workers put their lives on the line to enter the building and identify the source of fire. It took 25 fire offers, about 100 rescue workers and five hours of toilet to keep the fire under control, says A. Umesh, assistant to a police commissioner who supervised the evacuation process.
Lacuna
The survey after the fire brought the main gap in the system. It was found that the gutted building lacked the certificate without objections from the department of the fire and rescue department, which is issued after a firefighting audit, says Ashraf.
Comprehensive firefighting audit carried out in 2022 identified 140 commercial buildings in the Kozhikode district as susceptible to fire and lacks compulsory fire safety. The list of vulnerable buildings prepared by departments of fire and rescue services of Keral was shared with the Office for the Management of Catastrophe for the Next Steps. Although the owners of the buildings delivered the notice and asked the buildings to be secure, the process lost the steam in the middle.
“Most of the buildings identified are located within the city. There were 107 multi -storey commercial buildings on the list,” reveals the former fire and rescue service officer, which was part of the inspection team. No one took a message that was prepared after a laborious audit of approximately 300 buildings, including residential facilities and hospitals, seriously.
Unauthorized buildings
“Kozhikode City Corporation has identified more than 4,000 unauthorized buildings in the city. Many such projects are involved in various cases,” says MK Raghavan, Kozhikode. It points out that there were no steps against the violators who were asked to regulate the structures after the required modifications were taken. According to him, such unauthorized constructions were allocated even false numbers.
Illegal changes
“An illegal change in fire outputs in buildings for creating additional storage is in commercial buildings. Merchants will resort to such illegal behavior after the night. Due to lack of hands and large buildings, it would be almost impossible to keep the card about these activities,” says the head and rescuer.
Traders’ reluctance
The reluctance of traders to replace damaged fire warnings, including smoke and fire alarms and electrical equipment, is a serious safety problem. There were no proper fire alarms in a three -year -old building that rose in flames.
“There were no fire hydrants near the building and the fire offers were forced to depend on distant water sources to emerge fire. We did not expect such an obstacle to appear,” says a policeman who came to support firefighters.
Political protests
The fire also launched a volley of political protests in the city, while the united democratic front and the Bharatiya Janata party, which held the civil authorities responsible for the accident. He also claims that the civic authorities have taken security aspects randomly, which, according to them, led to an accident.
Ma Razak and TT Ismail, district leaders of the Indian Muslim League Union, feel that the civic authorities cannot escape the abdominal accidents. “The police should book cases against the civic authorities for the allocation of the building for commercial purposes without performing the compulsory audit of fire safety. Officials plunged fire safety into the wind and thus exposed people to great risk,” Duo says.
Fire audits on the card
Recurrent fire accidents were built by the civic authorities on the hind leg. Mayor of Kozhikode Bee Philip, who faced fire questions about the alleged laxity of City Corporation to ensure fire safety of buildings. “The accident should serve as a warning to all. The company will deal with this issue and deal with shortcomings if there are. Traders should ensure reasonable measures for fire safety in their buildings. The civic body will soon carry out fire audits in all buildings,” he says.
Snehil Kumar Singh, a district collector, assures the inhabitants of the city that a specific event will be launched on the basis of an investigation report.
Merchants charge
Kerala Vyapasa Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti-Chancellor will direct the bearers to the “previously-up-upd firefighting systems” at various fire-fighting stations in the city.
PK Bappu Haji, state vice -president of Samiti, and at the same time applauded the brave efforts of the rescuers in the occupation of the fire, noting that rescuers had to rush to the scene of the accident with the “conventional and outdated firefighting facility”. “The situation would be different if not for the offer for the airport, which helped control the fire to a significant level. It is necessary to appreciate the hard work of firefighters. They could do it better if they were equipped with better fire accessories suitable for handling heights,” says Haji. He feels that discharge of traders for failure to comply with the rules on fire safety is unacceptable. “The introduction of safety rules A is introduced by a flawless inspection system to ensure that standards are strictly followed,” he suggests.
It is estimated that P. Mukundan, the owner of a textile trade, suffered a loss of more than 7 GBP crore, while the total loss caused by fire was considered as around 75 crore.
Given that investigators are busy by detecting the reasons Inferno, KS Madhu, Assistant of Calicut Textile Manager, Overtaking is working to put the house in order. “The accident, except that it caused a huge loss of income, has disrupted the lives of almost 50 employees of the company.
Investigations are underway
A police investigation was started after the accident. Investigators examine all possible angles, including sabotage that could cause fire.
The city’s inhabitants were relieved that they noticed that Blaze was under control in five hours and no lives were lost in the accident. Nevertheless, several questions about the fire safety of the city remain unanswered.
Published – May 22, 2025 20:22
