A 70-year-old man was charred to death and at least 12 vehicles were destroyed after a fire broke out at an air conditioner service center in Patel Nagar in Ghaziabad early on Saturday.
The two-storey building houses an air conditioning service centre, where the fire broke out at around 3am on Saturday, officials said. They suspect that the fire started from an electrical short circuit on the ground floor and spread due to gas cylinders and AC compressors.
“The fire department received a call at around 3.05 am and eight fire tenders were dispatched to the spot. During the search, 70-year-old man Triloki Nath was found dead on the ground floor. The fire is suspected to have started from an electrical short circuit on the ground floor and spread rapidly. There were also explosions in gas cylinders and air conditioner compressors stored on the ground floor. Two cars and 10 two-wheelers parked inside the building were also burnt during “The fire.” (CFO) Rahul Pal told HT.
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Omkar Tomar, owner of the service centre, told HT that the fire started on the ground floor around 2.45 to 3 am on Saturday while everyone was sleeping.
“The 70-year-old man was one of my old employees, and he was still working with us. He stayed on the ground floor. When the fire broke out, he had gone out of the building with other employees who were sleeping. Then, after some time, he went inside probably to take out his belongings or his mobile phone. He was unable to get out after that,” Tomar added.
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Tomar said that while the exact cause of the fire is unknown, the resource loss is estimated at approx $2 Crore Rs.
Fire engines were called from Vaishali, Sahibabad and Modinagar fire stations, officials said.
“We ordered an autopsy, and the body was found burnt. He was an old employee of the company and was sleeping with seven other workers on the ground floor. The entire building belongs to the service center company. The fire was completely extinguished in about two hours,” Zia Uddin Ahmed, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Nandgram Circle, told HT.
