Building collapses 10 minutes after firemen exit

Ludhiana: Two fire brigade teams comprising seven officials had a narrow escape on Friday trying to douse at the factory in Phase V of Focal Point.
The fire brigade officials also visited the unit from inside to take stock of the situation. The scenario changed for the worse when the ground floor of the double-storey factory was also engulfed in flames.Firemen became busy tracing their fellow officials amidst the dust and smoke. They had a close shave as the entire building came tumbling down only 10 minutes after they went outside.
The firemen recalled the incident of November 2017, when 16 people, including nine firemen had died in a fire incident at Amarson Polymers near Suffian Chowk in which the building collapsed. They had been assured of being provided with all basic infrastructure and safety equipment. However, none of the promises were fulfilled.
While describing the incident on Friday evening, sub-fire officer Aatish Rai shared, “I, along with firemen Gurinder Singh, Kartik Sharma and Darshan Singh, was at the front side, while the second team comprising sub-fire officer Jaspal Singh, firemen Sandeep Singh and Jot Singh were working at the other side.” He said they were confident of controlling the fire on time as the operation was going on smoothly.
“We went upstairs to take stock of the situation as fire had started coming under control at upper floors. However, the ground floor, where toys and cycle parts were kept, suddenly caught fire,” he said while adding that since there was plastic all around the fire spread rapidly. They started working on dousing the flames on the ground floor. The electric cars for kids kept on the ground floor caught fire which led to a blast and they were caught in smoke and dust, he added. “Had we not come outside on time, it could have proved to be fatal for us as the building collapsed 10 minutes after we went outside.”
A fireman Sandeep Singh said, “I was at the backside of the factory when the blast took place. We felt the impact. In a haste to run at a safe place, people started colliding with each other. I do not know what struck against my nose and lips that I started bleeding.” He added that were given first aid immediately.
The station fire officer S N Sharma agreeing with what Aatish Rai said added that had the fire brigade officials not come outside on the right time, they could have suffered terribly.
Firemen lacked hydraulic ladder and other safety equipment
Requesting anonymity, one of the fire officials claimed that all the big fires which took place in this month including the current one took many hours to be brought under control. It was added that one of the leading reasons behind the delayed success of the operations was the absence of hydraulic ladder and nozzles which could have helped douse the fire from outside the unit. The official blamed the civic authorities for their lackaidaiscal attitude despite the several fire incidents in the past two months. He added that no senior officer or the mayor inquired about their well-being or looked into the provision of their safety gear.