Powai tower catches fire

MUMBAI: A fire broke out in a 16th-floor flat in a highrise at Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, early on Saturday, sparking panic among the residents of the building. No one was injured though everything in the flat at Birchwood Apartment was reduced to ashes.
The fire seems to have been caused by the UPS of a computer, which was kept on for a long time.“The tower is located near Haiko Market. Fire officials said the person staying in the flat had kept the computer on for too long and the UPS sparked off the fire,” said Powai police senior inspector Y L Jadhav. The Powai police, fire brigade, gas agencies and the electricity company that supplies power to the area reached the spot within minutes and all the residents were evacuated from the building. Sub-inspector Kakasaheb Shinde said the blaze was doused in an hour. “The electricity and piped gas connections were checked and plugged till the fire was put out,” said Shinde. The entire incident got over around 5.45am.
The fire broke out around 2.45am in the flat rented by income-tax official J Saravan and his family. The Saravans were sleeping flat and were not ware of the fire; it was a resident passing by the building who noticed smoke billowing out of the window. “He alerted the guard who called up Saravan,” a neighbour told TOI. “The fire brigade, reached shortly, evacuated the building.”
A neighbour said the fire damaged the pipeline and water started dripping from the ceiling of flats on the 15th floor. “It was a lucky escape as most residents in the building were sleeping. The alert local saved our lives,” he said. But the incident has scared an elderly couple so much that they are apparently considering shifting somewhere else.