Recalling how quickly the National Museum of Natural History was engulfed in fire early on Tuesday morning, security personnel posted at the museum told this newspaper that a small fire that was repor
Recalling how quickly the National Museum of Natural History was engulfed in fire early on Tuesday morning, security personnel posted at the museum told this newspaper that a small fire that was reported on the top floor of the museum turned into a huge inferno within 10 minutes. Security guards evacuated the building and informed the fire department and officials of the museum about the incident.
“I was taking my scheduled walk around the building, when I suddenly heard sound of glass shattering. I pushed open the gates to the museum’s reception to warn my colleagues inside. It was then that I noticed sparks in the building’s elevator,” Pawan Kumar, a security guard posted at the museum, said.
“Other security guards rang me up and informed me about the smoke. I instructed them to call the fire department. By then, I too had reached the spot. I also informed all Ficci members, who also arrived in some time,” said Jagmohan Bhisht, the caretaker in charge of security at the Ficci complex.
Pawan Kumar and Suresh Yadav were two guards deployed for the security of the museum.
The two guards posted at the Ficci administrative building spent a sleepless night. They said that a garbage dumper passed at 1.30 pm after which there was blast in the lift of the building. “Around 1.40 am, I saw fire in the lift of the building and the fire went to all top floors. I informed the other guards guarding the museum,” said Pawan Kumar, who is posted at the administrative building. He added that a call was made to emergency 100 number and after 30 minutes fire tenders arrived at the spot. “They had brought a big crane along with them to douse the fire,” he said and added that initially the fire spread into high flames within half-an-hour.
“The situation was tough for everyone, we were helpless. The intensity of fire was so strong that we were unable to stand even at distance of 100 metres but we were amazed to see how bravely firefighters were while they tried to douse the fire. Even some onlookers, who stopped to see the fire, were unable to stand and reported having problems in breathing,” said Mr Kumar.
