Four-Storey Building In Bengaluru Gutted In Fire Due To Short-Circuit

A four-floor building in Bengaluru was completely destroyed after a fire broke out in the early morning hours of Monday. The property was at Banasawadi Ring Road and housed a furniture shop on the ground floor, a coaching center on the second floor, and an IT company on the third and fourth floors. The firefighters were able to rescue two security guards who were trapped in the building. So far no casualties have been reported from the accident. The preliminary cause of the fire is believed to be a short circuit. However, Money Control reported that the police are investigating the issue of whether any “underlying family disputes played a role in this incident”.

According to News 9, the building was owned by a person named Shankar, who had been renting it out for the past five years. Shankar told News 9, “I had rented out a storey building. The building was burning when I visited it at night. I have suffered Rs 7 to 8 crore loss because of the fire.”

On Monday, journalist Christin Mathew Philip shared visuals of the fire on X. This post prompted people to discuss the lack of fire safety in commercial spaces. A person noted, “There are so many furniture shops on this stretch of ORR, fire safety measures appear to be zero at all these commercial complexes.”

Another wrote, “Correct its short circuit, these real estate builders need to inspect widening and fire safety facilities timely”. “May be due to firecrackers falling and catching fire,” speculated another one.

News 9 has reported that in the past two months, multiple fires in commercial spaces have been reported across Bengaluru. In October, a cafe in Koramangala, located in a four-floor building caught fire. Similarly, a fire broke out at a private bus garage in Veerabhadra Nagar near Banashankari. Some 21 buses were charred in this fire. Following these accidents, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, an administrative body tasked with maintaining civic amenities and some infrastructural assets of the Greater Bengaluru Metropolitan Area, started assessing the city’s bars and restaurants. The civic body had shut down 21 pubs and restaurants for not complying with the fire safety guidelines. Additionally, it sent notices to 167 other places, asking them to set the fire safety mechanisms in place.