A day after the fire accident at the Ashrith Aspire apartment complex in South Bengaluru claimed two lives, experts have determined that the inferno wasn’t caused by any cylinder explosion.
Forensic and fire experts, plus representatives of Indian Oil Corporation, zonal officials from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) who visited the site on Wednesday are yet to make their report public. However, authoritative sources say that neither a cylinder blast nor a short circuit was responsible for the fire.
Police and a senior fire department official told DH that two intact cylinders had been found in the charred apartment, which appears to rule out a catalyst for the explosion. “The two cylinders did not explode,” said the fire official. “Gas expands to double its volume if exposed to high external heat. But despite the high temperatures caused by the fire in the apartment, the cylinders did not explode because the temperature did not cross the critical threshold.”
“We are also looking to see if there was a gas leak from the regulator pipe that caused flames to erupt. Our report will be finalised by Thursday,” the official added.
The officials found that almost all the valuables in the apartment, including refrigerator, television set, furniture, clothes, electrical wirings and other electronic, electrical valuables, have been gutted in the fire. The refrigerator was found broken into pieces and police suspect the fire may have broken in it, but they are waiting for reports from officials.
Family torn
Several family members of the deceased who visited the site on Wednesday speculated that the fire may have been caused by a short circuit. “It was a happy occasion for Lakshmidevi, 82, who had wanted to stay with her daughter Bhagya Rekha, 59, who had just returned from the United States,” said one member of the family.
“Her grandson had just dropped her off at the apartment a day before. We never imagined it would end like this,” he said.
Bescom reportedly told the apartment Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) that an electrical cause could also be ruled out.
Rajendra Cholan, MD, Bescom, nevertheless stated that the final report on the matter is still pending. “Power has been restored at all units except those on either side of the destroyed flat,” he added.
Residents started to return to the complex on Wednesday evening following a no-objection certificate from the BBMP and the electrical inspectorate. All had spent the previous night at the homes of relatives and friends. A group had been housed at the clubhouse of an apartment complex across the street.
“The BBMP has said that it will help us clean up the apartments. Structural engineers will also be visiting tomorrow to assess damage to the building,” said Ranjith Kumar, president of the apartment RWA.
Out of 75 units in the apartment complex, occupancy ranged between 60% to 70%, Kumar said, explaining that the balance was working remotely from their hometowns.
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