On April 22, 2023 fire broke out in the common area outside the SixTen store located in the premises of Prateek Fedora society. Soon the fire spread to the temporary fibre structure that covered the area and flames rose high turning the night sky orange. The visitors to the store and the staff hurriedly ran outside. The residents living near the store were frightened and many of them ran downstairs fearing that the fire could reach their flats. Luckily the fire could be contained timely and could not reach the two generators and barrels of diesel that were kept just behind this common area that caught fire. There is also a high tension electricity line that runs near the common area and a transformer that is a stone throw away. If the fire would have reached the generators or the transformer, one cannot even imagine the catastrophic damage it would have caused. The area that was impacted by the fire was being used by the store to run bakery and vegetable retail counters which is a violation to the rules as the retailer is only permitted to use the common area for loading and unloading purposes and not for any commercial activity. The earlier PFAWA board had objected to this and had also served a notice to the management of the store but the store owner did not comply. Now after the incident the new PFAWA board had asked the store to vacate the common area and the store management has complied with the directive for now. During summers when temperatures soar, chances of fires increase and even a small act of carelessness can prove fatal. So it’s very important to take all precautions and comply with all the fire safety norms.
