Ghaziabad: An apartment on the third floor of a high-rise society was gutted in a fire that broke out around 1pm on Friday. There were no casualties as the family living in the flat had gone out. However, the fire department officials said there was a heavy property damage.A video accessed by TOI shows flames rushing through the flat and smoke billowing out of the balcony of Classic Residency. The smoke affected the residents living in the upper floors.“We noticed the fire around 1pm. Immediately, the maintenance staff and security guard tried to put out the flames with the fire equipment we have in the society. We informed the fire department and tried to control the situation,” a resident of the society said.AOA president of the society Vikash Chaudhary said the fire department took a long time to respond to their call. There are more than 40 high-rise societies in Raj Nagar Extension, but there is no fire station in the area, and the nearest fire station is in the Kotwali area, which is 30 minutes away.Ghaziabad’s chief fire officer Rahul Pal said they were informed about the fire at 1.21 pm. Two fire tenders from the Kotwali fire station and the collectorate reached the spot. It took them nearly 25 minutes to control the flames. “We have managed to save the flat documents, two gold bangles and one gold ring. Everything else was destroyed in the flames,” he said“The house belongs to Rakesh Nigam. At the time of the incident, his family was out but we suspect that someone had left an earthen lamp (diya) used for worship burning in one of the rooms. It might have triggered a fire which eventually engulfed the kitchen and burnt down the 2 BHK space,” he said.A second fire broke out in a warehouse of paint and thinner in the Kotwali area. The fire department suspects that a short circuit led to the the incident.Chief fire officer said around 4 pm, the fire department received information about the incident. Two fire tenders were sent dispatched for the spot and they brought the flames under control in 30 minutes .
