No Fire Safety Certificate Issued To Cuttack’s Sadguru COVID Hospital!

Cuttack: Hours after the fire mishap at Sadguru COVID Hospital at Jagatpur in Cuttack, Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Sukant Sethi on Monday informed that no fire safety certificate was issued to the hospital owing to some shortcomings.

He further said that a notice was issued to the hospital authorities for compliance.

“The fire could be contained since sprinklers and detection system at the hospital worked properly and all patients were swiftly shifted out of the hospital building,” he said.

Gynaecologist Dr Samita Mohanty of the hospital asserted that there were only smoke and no fire and the hospital staff immediately broke open the fixed window to let it out.

Also Read: Odisha Govt Orders Probe Into Sadguru COVID Hospital Fire

According to Directorate of Odisha Fire Service, Chauliaganj Fire Station received a call at 12.50 pm from the hospital and immediately one fire tender each from Chauliaganj Fire Station and Cuttack Fire Station were rushed to the incident place.

The fire occurred on the first floor of ICU, which was initially extinguished by the hospital staff by using their fire fighting measures installed in the hospital.

No patient suffered any burn injuries. Some accessories of ICU units, however, were damaged in the fire.

Preliminary investigation has attributed the fire to an electrical short-circuit in one of the hospital’s air conditioners.

In August last week, AFO, Cuttack, and local Station Officer of Chauliaganj Fire Station had visited the hospital and sensitised the staff on safety measures in the event of any fire incident. They were also trained to use fire fighting equipment. Sprinkler, hose reel hose, extinguishers and fire alarm were installed earlier as per the recommendation of Fire Officers during an inspection. These helped in averting a major fire accident at the hospital, it added.