Acropolis second prominent Kolkata address singed by fire in four days
Times of India | 15 June 2024
Kolkata: A fire at a bookstore in a south Kolkata mall on Friday morning ahead of a long weekend caused a major scare but no one was injured as a few hundred shoppers, cine-goers, shopkeepers and mall staff along with over several thousand who work in offices in the tower at the rear section were evacuated before toxic smoke enveloped the building.
The incident comes three days after a fire broke out in a rooftop restaurant in the bustling office-cum-entertainment hub at Park Street-Camac Street intersection opposite Allen Park on Tuesday morning.None were injured in that incident as well.
The fire was spotted around noon at bookstore Crossword at the mall’s mezzanine level between the third and fourth floor of Acropolis Mall in Kasba. The alarm was immediately sounded and the mall as well as the office tower evacuated within 20 minutes. The fire that appears to have been triggered by an electrical short circuit was fuelled by inflammable items like books and stuffed toys.
Though the mall staff tried to fight the fire with extinguishers and water hoses, they were quick to realise it would be difficult to manage it on their own and dialled the fire brigade. The firemen reached the spot soon. While flames were not spotted from outside, the white and black smoke that spewed out of vents were ominous and indicated killer smoke trapped within. Firemen used two hydraulic lifts to break open the glass facade and used extractors to clear the smoke so that firefighters could move in and tackle the fire. Fifteen fire tenders were requisitioned.
In all, 150 firemen and 100 civil defence and disaster management personnel took part in the operation that helped contain the fire by 2 pm. Though the entire book store was gutted, no other shops in the mall were damaged by the fire.
The fire department has started a probe into the cause of the fire. While an electrical short circuit is a likely source, they will also check if the use of a welding machine in the floor below could have ignited the fire.
State fire minister Sujit Bose said necessary action will be taken if any negligence is detected in the fire fighting system. “It could have been a disaster had people not been evacuated on time,” said Bose, after visiting the fire ravaged portion of the building. In all, 5,900 persons were evacuated from the mall and the office building.
Mall authorities said the mall is equipped with robust fire-fighting and prevention systems and has trained professionals who regularly have fire drills to handle any emergency. “We immediately took preventive measures. The smoke extraction system was switched on. The team also started operating the fire pumps to sprinkle water in the fire affected area and simultaneously intimated the fire service authorities and police. The occupants in the building were evacuated safely,” said Krishna Jha, senior operations manager, Acropolis mall.
In operation since 2015, the mall-cum-office building has 115 stores spread across five levels and offices from the sixth to the 20th level. The 21st level has a business club. Shops in the mall include anchor stores, a four-screen cineplex, vanilla stores, a food court and fine dining restaurants. The office complex has 99 offices.
The fire was the talk of town for much of Friday with many posting photos of the smoking mall taken from EM Bypass in the east and Bijon Setu in the west. Video grabs of smoke gushing out of the bookstore that were captured by shoppers while evacuating the mall also became viral.
Motorists also tried to slow down to look at the scene but cops directed them forward and ensured traffic movement on Rashbehari Avenue connector remained smooth. Fire tenders and other vehicles were parked in the adjacent roads.
Police also ensured dispersal of students from nearby DPS Ruby Park and Garden High School wasn’t hampered and school buses and pool cars were offered emergency channels to pick up students and leave.