Noida: A spark at a basement charging point into which an EV battery was plugged triggered a fire that gutted the ground floor of a house in Mamura and choked residents on the upper floors of the five-storey building, killing two residents.The fire broke out around 11.30 am and spread quickly because it ignited petrol two-wheelers parked in the basement next to the charging area, triggering a series of explosions. As the blaze engulfed the basement, thick smoke engulfed the narrow road leading to the apartment, triggering panic in the neighbourhood.Inside the building, around 50 families found their exit blocked by fire. Many felt unwell, some choked in their rooms, others rushed to the terrace to find a way out. Some residents tried to jump from balconies and windows but were persuaded to wait for police and firefighting teams. A few residents managed to cross over to the adjacent building under construction through a ladder they fashioned from bamboo pieces that they laid across horizontally and used as a bridge.The cause of the fire is under investigation. Informal charging points that do not have proper wiring are widely used in NCR to charge e-rickshaws and cheap e-scooters that are usually used for e-commerce deliveries, courting fire accidents such as the one in Mamura on Wednesday. These informal charging setups are most often located in urban villages, which are densely populated and have narrow lanes that make firefighting difficult.The Mamura building’s charging infrastructure was in the basement, which is gutted, so the fire department is yet to determine whether unsafe charging practices led to the fire or whether it was a battery snag that was the cause.Officials said around 70 people were inside the building when the fire broke out, mostly women, children, elderly residents and private sector employees resting after night shifts. Firefighters, who were informed around 15 minutes after the blaze started, found it difficult to reach the building, which is inside a densely packed alley. The fire engine could not get inside the lane, so the firefighters had to park a distance away and lay the hose pipe up to the building.They evacuated residents floor by floor, reaching them by the staircase and neighbouring rooftops. Two tenants, Sneha Srivastava of Bihar and Rishabh Kumar of Madhya Pradesh, both employed with private companies, were also evacuated by firemen, but died at the district hospital during treatment later.
Residents stitched up a bamboo ladder and used it as a bridge to cross over to the a neighbouring building under construction
Chief fire officer Pradeep Kumar Chaubey said the rescue was hazardous because two-wheelers parked on the ground floor kept exploding intermittently. Officials said lithium-ion battery fires require specialised firefighting techniques and earlier reporting could have helped contain the blaze sooner.A preliminary probe found the building had no fire extinguishers, alarms, smoke detectors or hydrant systems, equipment mandatory in a multi-storey residential building. An FIR was filed against the building owner, and the property’s leaseholder and operator Krishna Kumar, a resident of Trilokpuri in Mayur Vihar, was arrested. He is being questioned, police said.
Seventeen two-wheelers were destroyed in the blaze
Residents said the building has 54 flats, largely occupied by employees in IT, BPO, electronics and manufacturing sectors working in the city, drawn by cheaper rents of around Rs 14,000 a month. Locals said they tried to douse the fire themselves before alerting the fire department.Seven fire tenders and around 110 firefighters brought the blaze under control around two hours later. Seventeen two-wheelers were gutted. Additional commissioner of police Rajeev Narayan Mishra said authorities are continuing their investigation into the cause of the fire and to fix responsibility for the lapses.A confrontation, meanwhile, broke out at the spot between police and Sneha’s brother, who allegedly wanted to enter the building to retrieve belongings. Some bystanders alleged a police officer slapped him as he insisted on entering the building after the fire was doused.
