Food court at Forum gutted

Food court at Forum gutted
All Evacuated Safely | Efficient Alarm System Prevents Major Disaster
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: What could easily have been a major disaster ended without a any loss of life, thanks to swift action and systematic evacuation when a major fire broke out at The Forum mall here on Monday evening. A major portion of the food court on the second floor was completely gutted.
An efficient public address system as well as fire-fighting equipment in working condition averted
a major tragedy. But, more than an hour after the fire broke out, no one was sure where it had started.
Around 6.15 pm, a fire was noticed at Paramount restaurant in the food court. Immediately, an announcement was made over the PA system and people were swiftly evacuated. There were at least 600-800 people, including staff of various restaurants, in the food court.
The staff were confused about the cause of the fire and where it had started. While some said it was at the tandoor kiln at Paramount restaurant, others said it started from Maharaja restaurant.
Fire Force commandant B G Chengappa said the fire first broke out in the air handling unit, which manages the air-conditioner, and came down to the food court through the cable. This made it difficult for the restaurant staff to handle the fire, he said.
The Forum mall spokesperson Ali said: “In the first place, fire did not break out. Fire was found in some cable and there was a lot of smoke, which caused panic. Secondly, we are yet to ascertain the exact cause and we are cleaning up the premises,’’ he added. “During the fire, usually people die due to inhalation of smoke or due to a stampede. The situation was handled well and a tragedy was averted,’’ Chengappa said.
The staff of a restaurant said it took almost 5-10 minutes for the fire to spread from the first stall to the next. “This gave everyone enough time to get away,’’ they said.
However, smoke was the biggest problem, as the centrally air-conditioned mall had little ventilation for it to go out. Smoke could be seen coming out of the building from Hosur Road. After an hour-and-a-half, mall authorities and fire force personnel broke open some fibre glass panels, enabling the smoke to waft out.
Restoration of food court
According to fire force officials, it would need at least seven days for the food court area to be back to normal. At first, four fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Since the internal fire system was good, fire personnel drew water from the internal system and hose, and extinguished the fire.
How the fire started
Fire broke out in the air handling unit, which manages the air-conditioner and came down to food court through the cable, says Fire Force commandant B G Chengappa
HOW DAMAGE WAS MINIMIZED
An efficient public address system as well as fire-fighting equipment averted a major tragedy. Since internal fire system was good, fire personnel drew water from internal system and extinguished the fire