30 rescued after fire breaks out at Haldiram outlet in Model Town

Around 30 people were rescued after a fire broke out in a three-storey building housing a Haldiram outlet and adjoining structures in northwest Delhi’s Model Town area on Friday.

The fire broke out around 2 pm, following which Head Constable Pawan, the beat officer of Model Town police station, became the first responder and alerted senior officers, police said.

Thick smoke billowed from the building, which has a basement, ground floor, and three upper floors.

The Delhi Fire Service received a call about the blaze at around 2.40 pm and initially rushed four fire tenders to the spot.

As the fire intensified, the DFS deployed 23 units, including a hydraulic platform, officials said.

The police team evacuated occupants of the affected building as well as those in adjoining buildings, safely rescuing a total of 30 people, police said.

“The building has a basement, ground floor, and three floors. On the ground and first floor there is Haldiram, and on the second and third floor there is one more restaurant. The fire spread to all floors.

We have searched the entire building, and no one was trapped inside,” a DFS officer said.

The blaze, suspected to have been caused by a short circuit, broke out in a multi-storey building housing the Haldiram outlet and other establishments.

“The fire was classified as a medium fire at 3.30 pm and was brought under control around 4 pm,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, Md Sajid, assistant Bank manager of a private bank, said, “As soon as the short circuit happened, the guard informed us that fire had broken out and we should evacuate the building. The fire started from the ground floor and engulfed the whole building. We used a fire extinguisher in our office to try to extinguish the fire as much as we could on an individual level.”

No injury or casualty was reported due to the timely police response and prompt evacuation, they said.