Fire in Noida high-rise; no casualty

Noida: A fire broke out on Thursday inside a locked apartment on the second floor of a residential tower in the Noida Extension area and spread to the balcony of the third floor, officials said.

No casualty was reported in the incident, however, there was property damage, they said.

Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control within two hours, officials said.

Chief Fire Officer Pradeep Kumar Choubey said the fire was reported at around 9.30 am from a flat on the second floor at Gaur City 16th Avenue Society in the Bisrakh area of Noida Extension.

"The apartment was locked as its owner was away. With the help of the society's maintenance team, we entered the flat and controlled the blaze. The house has been badly damaged. The fire had also spread to the third-floor flat's balcony and that too was doused immediately," Choubey told PTI.

The officer said the fire broke out due to an electrical short circuit while it is also suspected that some inflammable material was kept inside the flat.

"Fortunately no one was inside the flat at the time of the incident," the CFO said.

The officer also cautioned the general public to be careful when going outdoors and urged those living in high rises to not close their balconies with iron grilles as it can be "troublesome at the time of emergencies".