Alert Teen saves eight members of family from fire tragedy

Bangalore Mirror

• He noticed smoke billowing out of opposite building and alerted the occupants. Family on the top floor, along with their pet dog, crawled to safety after ladders were placed across from a neighbouring building

 

Bangalore, 03 Nov 2012: After a couple of hours poring over his school textbooks on Friday, 13-year-old Chetan Kumar decided to take a break. As he was drinking a glass of water and looking out of his flat window, what he saw startled the young lad – whorls of smoke billowing out of the first floor of the building opposite his.

 

Using admirable presence of mind, Chetan rushed out to alert the occupants of the building to the danger. Thanks to his quick thinking, eight members of a family and their pet dog were rescued unharmed and property worth crores was saved. 

 

 
Chetan Kumar

 

The fire reportedly started around 2:30 pm at the three-storey building that houses a RelianceFresh outlet, on 13th Cross, Indiranagar 2nd Stage. Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, a still-excited Chetan said, “The moment I saw the smoke, I ran to my mother and informed her. We first thought a pooja was being done there. But I was somehow not convinced. So I ran down to the Reliance outlet on the ground floor and told the manager about the fire in the building. After that it was complete action as those shopping in the outlet were evacuated and the fire tenders started arriving.” Lauding the child, residents of the area said, “The boy’s presence of mind saved several people.”

 

An eighth-standard student of Royal Concorde International School, Chetan stays with his parents, Naveen and Roopa, on the second floor of Chandralok Apartment. He had stayed home on Friday as his teachers were participating in a workshop. “I felt something terrible was going to happen if I didn’t act and that made me run to the RelianceFresh outlet and inform its manager,” Chetan said.

 

 

The manager confirmed that fire had broken out on the vacant first floor, after which everyone was directed to move out. Building owner Mahaveer Chand and his family, who stay on the second floor, were trapped. “They did not take the lift as it is not supposed to be operated when a fire breaks out, and they could not descend using the stairs as the approach to the first floor was filled with thick smoke,” a police officer at the spot said.

 

The family had by now begun to panic. “There were women and three children in the house,” Mahaveer said. “Within minutes, some residents and cops appeared on the roof of the neighbouring building and told us to keep calm. Subsequently, two ladders were placed across the parapet walls of the two buildings and we were urged to cross over. We were hesitant but that was the only option available. Everyone crawled over to the other side, and our dog too was rescued,” he said. 

 

Prashanth M, an eyewitness, said, “The rescue was like how it happens in the movies. The ladders were placed around 50 feet above the ground and we saw the family members crawl across to safety.”

 

The rescued family members were rushed to a nearby private hospital for a check-up. Almost immediately after the ‘action’ was over, three fire tenders arrived at the spot and doused the blaze. Chief fire Officer Chandrashekar said, “We were told that no one stays on the first floor. The fire is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit.”

 

Chetan deservedly had the last word in the all’s-well-that-ends-well story, saying with a maturity beyond his years, “I feel good no one ended up shedding tears.”