Case study

• Fireincident at Carlton
tower,Bangalore
What Happened ?
• On February 23, 2010 nine people lost their lives to a fatal
fire that engulfed the eight-storied Carlton Towers
building in Kodihalli. Bellowing flames which emerged
from a lift service cable, later spread to higher floors and
injured about 70 people.

• Even though the Carlton towers were issued no-objection

certificate under the National Building Code 2005 by the
fire department, a fire incident took away the lives of 9 people
and injured about 70 people that occurred on 23-02-
2010.Among this 3 people lost their lives as they jumped from
the upper floors by breaking the window to escape from the
blaze.
 CAUSES
1.Disregards for standards on building and fire safety
• The original plan of the building envisaged wide corridors
separating office units on either side with exit routes at the end of
each corridor. However, the owners encroached upon the
corridors to form one large office space that commanded higher
rents and locked the exit routes, which made it impossible for an
escape.

• 10 to 15 diesel generators were installed on the terrace to power

the telecom towers there to rake in huge rentals. Even worse, they
had also stored several barrels of diesel on the terrace that could
have turned the fire into an inferno.

• The common area on the ground floor as per the original plan,
had been encroached by illegal shops and structures, and the
doors of the emergency staircase were locked most of the time.
2. Poor awareness of fire safety and
mitigation strategies
3.Poor government monitoring and
corruption
• Sources say that as most companies have only one
department that tackles both building safety and fire
safety, more often than not, as a company fails to
comply with building standards, they are also likely to
fail in complying with fire safety standards.
• Regular fire safety audits and building inspection
might have prevented the fire at the Carlton Towers.
4.Fire fighters efforts blocked by
spectators
• The fire tragedy may have been compounded when the city's fire
fighters were blocked by a huge crowd of spectators surrounding
Carlton Towers.

• The traffic jams too that were formed as the fire progressed did not
help in easing the way to the building and reducing response time.

• Poor equipment by the fire fighters may also be cited as one of the
contributory factors that made rescue efforts fail, such ladders not
high enough and the nets not strong enough.

• It is apparent from the crowd who gathered to watch rescue

operations that there is a poor grasp of fire safety in India. Not only
were the crowd failed to respond dutifully but have impeded the
rescue efforts.
Preventions
• 1.Remain calm and shout for help.

• 2.If the fire is small try and extinguish the flames with the
correct type of extinguisher.

• 3.If the fire is spreading evacuate the area.

• 4.Stay as low to the ground as possible and cover nose and

mouth.

• 5.Use a designated fire escape instead of lifts.

• 6.Get out of and away from the building.