Friday blaze rekindles pre-Covid building fire trauma for octogenarian resident
Times of India | 18 January 2025
12 Kolkata: Staring at the thick black fumes gushing out of the top-floor windows of her apartment and firemen rushing in and out of the six-storey building to douse the flames, 83-year-old Reva Puri sat motionless, with the nightmare of another fire at her own flat in the same building five years ago rushing back to haunt her.
"Five years ago, on a Jan evening, our flat in this very building was consumed by flames. There was nothing we could do then. Our home was burnt down in a whiff. It was only after that blaze that a firefighting system was installed in our apartment, which partially saved our home on Friday before firemen came in. I thought we would lose our home again, but thankfully, it was saved this time," said Veer Puri, 17, standing next to his elderly grandmother, who couldn't speak a word and only looked at her home in shock and fear.
Reva, who once owned a popular gymnasium chain in the city, was resting in the bedroom of their second-floor flat when their driver ran up to alert them about the fire. "We opened the main door, and the staircase was full of smoke. The fire was on the top floor, but the smoke was choking us two floors below. I, along with two maids and the driver, immediately lifted my grandmother as she sat on a chair, and we somehow brought her down to the road," said Veer, who thanked his luck for skipping school on Friday.
A host of other elderly residents also sat on the pavement on Hungerford Street. Octogenarian Rotowt Roy Chowdhury was at her third-floor home on Friday afternoon when the fire broke out. Chowdhury, who also can't walk down by herself, was carried down by her nurse.
"It was scary. The lift was switched off and we slowly moved out, holding the handrails and the walls. Thankfully, the firemen and the building security guards were able to douse the fire in quick time. Or else, it could have been catastrophic," said Pratibha Nathani, also in her 70s, who lives in a first-floor flat.
The Saluja family from the fifth floor, who called the fire brigade, were also downstairs with their pet dog Breezer. "The dog sensed the fire before others could and was constantly barking, alerting the owners. They went out of the flat and were among the first to notice the smoke and called the fire brigade before they came down with the dog. They were the ones who also sent out a message over a residents' WhatsApp group, alerting other residents," said a security guard of the building.
Avantika Kedia was among those who were not at home and was only alerted by the text message. "My mother received the message, and she called up a neighbour and learnt about the fire. None of us was home then. We rushed back to check on our home. But it looks safe," said Kedia, who lives in flat 3C.