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This story is from February 25, 2019

Fire at Aero India show at Bengaluru: Winds in excess of 30kmph helped fan the flames

A day after an accidental fire spread across a parking lot near Gate number 5 at the Yelahanka Air Force Station, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which along with the Indian Air Force (IAF) is conducting an inquiry said an overheated silencer of one of the cars could have led to the fire, the spread of which was aided by strong wind reaching in excess of 30 Kmph.
Fire at Aero India show at Bengaluru: Winds in excess of 30kmph helped fan the flames
Probe suggested that an overheated-silencer of one of the cars could have caused the incident.
BENGALURU: A day after an accidental fire spread across a parking lot near Gate number 5 at the Yelahanka Air Force Station, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which along with the Indian Air Force (IAF) is conducting an inquiry said an overheated silencer of one of the cars could have led to the fire, the spread of which was aided by strong wind reaching in excess of 30 Kmph.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the site, where she was briefed by the officials about the probable cause.
“She has directed officials to ensure that RTO helpdesk has representatives from insurance companies to facilitate claims,” an MoD statement read.
However, MN Reddi, DG, Fire and Emergency Services told TOI that the IAF and MoD are conducting an internal investigation and that the fire department was not looking into the cause. He said that an official report from MoD would throw light on the matter.
“...The probable cause stated was fire starting from an overheated silencer of one of the cars parked in the parking area. This quickly led to spreading of fire accentuated by strong winds,” MoD spokesperson said.
Elaborating on the damage, an MoD statement said that 278 cars were fully damaged, while 73 were partially damaged (16 due to fire and 57 due to breaking of glass).
Who’s Liable
While MoD and IAF are conducting the investigation, several questions have been raised by vehicle owners and other stakeholders, like: Who should take liability for the incident, was there a public liability insurance and so on.
TOI’s request for information on these matters did not elicit a response from
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which was the lead organiser. However, officials said off the record: “What happened was unfortunate, but it was an accident. And, it is clearly mentioned in the tickets that people purchased that parking of vehicle was at the owners’ risk.”
So far as insurance goes, sources said that multiple insurances have been taken. “For the aircraft, HAL and IAF have taken insurance, while all the building and enclosures were insured by the private firm outsourced to provide service like putting up of hangars and supplying manpower.”
Quick Response
But both the state fire department and MoD claimed that a quick response to the fire prevented it from spreading further and causing more damage. As per MoD there were 3,000 cars parked at the site, while Prashant M Dixit from RMB event management firm that was responsible for deputing manpower for parking estimated the number to be 2,500.
The MoD said that the quick action taken by the Operational Control Centre (OCC) of Aero India helped in controlling the rapid spread of fire at P4 parking area.
“The OCC Commander along with State Fire Department put into action together more than thirteen fire tenders, seven water bowsers and 33 Agni Varuna vehicles to douse the fire. Additionally, six Crash Fire Tenders (CFT) of IAF, which is used in case of Aircraft Crash, was used to control the rapid spread of fire and the entire fire was doused within 45 Minutes and more than 3,000 litres of foam was used,” the MoD said.
However, as TOI witnessed on Saturday, the fire, which broke out at 11.55am may have been controlled in 45 minutes, but the complete dousing of fire happened only at about 2.30pm.
MoD said that timely actions ensured that the damage was limited to a small area and larger damage was avoided, despite the fact that the wind was blowing in the direction of the vehicles.
“Vehicles in the line of fire were removed from the area by breaking the glass windows and releasing the parking brakes as drivers were not present and these cars were pushed to safety. This created a gap between the parked vehicles and stopped further spread of the fire,” MoD said.
The OCC coordinated for Quick replenishment of the Fire Tenders by regulating traffic on NH7 with the help of Traffic police, which ensured unhindered access of fire tenders to water tanks.
End of Article
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