A fire broke out in a building near gate number 31 of the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday afternoon, prompting authorities to dispatch five fire engines, a Delhi Fire Service (DFS) official said, news agency PTI reported.
The official said that the call regarding the fire of household contents on the ground floor of the two-storey building was received at 1:51 pm, adding that the fire was brought under control within twenty minutes.
“We dispatched five fire engines to the spot. The fire was brought under control at 2:15 p.m.,” said a DFS official.
Fire in the deputies’ apartments
In a separate incident on Saturday, a fire broke out in the Staff Quarters block of the Members of Parliament (MPs) apartments located in Brahmaputra Building on BD Marg in New Delhi.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs confirmed that the incident took place in a “deaf space” – a storage area – where a pile of non-functional furniture was being stacked up to be disposed of.
The fire is believed to have started at around 1.15pm, allegedly started when children lit fireworks nearby. The fire was spotted just three minutes later, at 1:18 p.m.
Before the fire tenders could arrive, officials from the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) quickly cut off the electricity supply and IGL gas connection to the building, ensuring a quick evacuation of the premises as a precautionary measure to avoid any casualties.
The fire was completely extinguished at 1:45 p.m. The situation was quickly brought under control thanks to a coordinated response between CPWD officials and Delhi Fire Service personnel.
No casualties were reported in the incident. In addition, all fire extinguishing systems installed in the building were fully operational and were effectively used to contain the fire before the fire engines arrived.
