Fire Breaks Out At DCW Office In Central Delhi; No Casualty Reported, Documents Damaged

DCW sources said several documents and office furniture were gutted in the fire.

Image tweeted by @VandanaSsingh

New Delhi: A major fire broke out at the second floor of Vikas Bhawan, which houses several Delhi government departments on Tuesday. The fire took place at the office of Delhi Commission for Women. No casualties were reported while important documents were destroyed, with an estimated a loss of Rs four to five lakh. "We received a call around 6 p.m. about the fire after which eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot. There were around 25 people present in the office who were evacuated safely," a fire official was quoted as saying by news agency IANS. However, DCW sources said several documents and office furniture were gutted in the fire. The Fire Department received a call about the blaze at around 6.00 pm, following which eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The blaze was brought under control by 7.11 pm and it was suspected that short-circuit in an air-conditioner might be the cause of the fire, the Delhi Fire Service officials said. DCW chief Swati Maliwal had returned from a meeting when the fire was noticed, the sources said. In a tweet, Maliwal thanked police and fire personnel for their quick response. "DCW office caught fire. Nobody got hurt but a lot of files got burnt. There was loss of property. The DCW team saved people with understanding and stayed on ground zero till the end! Thanks to the Police & Fire Department for immediate help. If they would not have been able to control the fire, the entire commission would have been gutted," she tweeted.

DCW में आग लग गयी। किसी को चोट नही आयी पर काफ़ी फ़ाइलें जल गयी। प्रॉपर्टी का बहुत नुक़सान हुआ।

DCW टीम ने सूझबूझ दिखा लोगों को बचाया एवं अंत तक ग्राउंड ज़ीरो पे बने रहे! तुरंत मदद के लिए पुलिस & फ़ाइअर डिपार्टमेंट का धन्यवाद। वो आग पे क़ाबू न पाते तो पूरा आयोग जल जाता।???????????? https://t.co/A7BMmlcUhr — Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) August 27, 2019

According to the sources, there were 22-25 people present inside the office when the fire broke out in the conference hall. They said they will analyse the level of damage on Wednesday as the cupboards in the conference hall had some case files too and they will check which files were gutted in the blaze. (inputs from agencies)