Another highrise fire, at Ivy County this time, triggers scare, family rescued

Noida: Still reeling from the deaths of 21 people at a Delhi bed-and-breakfast accommodation earlier this week, fires continue to keep NCR on the edge.On Friday morning, a fire broke out on the 12th floor of a 28-storey tower at Ivy County in Sector 75, sending thick smoke into the sky and triggering panic across the condominium as the flames leapt to the facade and threatened. Fortunately, they didn’t, with the society’s staff and the fire department acting promptly to rescue the family in the affected house — a couple and their two children.Though seven fire tenders were deployed, as with the April 12 fire at Gaur Green Avenue in Indirapuram, the jet sprays from the fire engine on the scene did not seem to reach the 12th floor.According to residents, the fire broke out around 7 am in flat 1204 of Tower B-2, likely triggered by a short circuit in an air conditioner. As the flames spread inside the flat, dense smoke filled the upper corridors, sending scores of families rushing down staircases and by lifts to evacuate to the lobbies.Chief fire officer Pradeep Kumar Chaubey said the society’s maintenance staff had activated the in-house fire safety system even before firefighting teams arrived, a response he credited as critical in containing the blaze to just one flat. Maintenance and fire personnel worked the hydrant network within the complex, connecting hose pipes to tackle the blaze while continuously cooling adjacent areas.One of the biggest challenges, firefighters said, was burning debris falling from the flat and threatening to ignite balconies on lower floors. With the risk of vertical spread real — at Gaur Green Avenue in Indirapuram this April, fire had raced up five floors, gutting eight flats — teams deployed cooling operations around adjoining apartments. A hydraulic platform was also positioned as a precaution for upper-floor evacuation, though officials said all residents had already exited safely.More than 200 residents were evacuated as smoke engulfed the upper floors, Chaubey said.The fire was brought under control in under an hour. No injuries were reported, though the flat was completely gutted, with furniture, appliances and household belongings destroyed.The incident, however, once again put NCR’s firefighting preparedness back in the spotlight. A video, recorded by a resident and shared on social media, appeared to show that water jets were able to spray only as high as the fifth floor while flames raged on the 12th, drawing swift criticism.CFO Chaubey, however, explained that water was being directed from ground level to lower floors to prevent sparks and falling debris from igniting lower balconies. He added that the effective operational reach of a manual hose line, combining hose length that can be extended over stairs and jet throw, is 100 metres.However, the maximum reach of hydraulic cranes in Noida remains 42 metres, or roughly 14 storeys. Atop a hydraulic ladder, a water stream can extend a further 10 to 15 metres — approximately three additional floors — depending on water pressure, making firefighting on higher floors a challenge. For a city where premium condominiums routinely rise to 25 to 30 storeys, that leaves a large portion of real estate beyond the reach of ground-based firefighting.Ivy County, a premium residential complex where possession was handed over only recently in 2024, comprises five towers, each rising 27-28 floors, with four apartments on every floor. Residents said the developer provided branded air-conditioning units in every apartment, and flats in the project are priced between Rs 2 crore and Rs 3.5 crore. As the project is relatively new, residents are yet to form an AOA.A neighbour said a group of senior citizens first spotted the fire and alerted the society’s maintenance team. TOI spoke to Rajiv Mishra, the maintenance head in charge, who said a cooler placed near the temple in the flat may have led to a short circuit.