Fire breaks out at a private school in Manesar; no casualty reported: Officials

The official added that the non-teaching staff rushed and broke the window panes present in all classrooms

A fire broke out at a private school in Manesar in Gurugram district on Wednesday morning due to an electrical short circuit, fire department officials said.

According to officials, the fire broke out at Kautilya Academy around 7.40am, and they received the information at 7.55am, when school authorities contacted the fire helpline. School officials said an electrical short circuit in the school’s kitchen caused an explosion and led to fire and smoke on the ground and first floor.

“After receiving the call, we immediately dispatched three fire tenders to the venue. Unfortunately, two of the fire tenders were stuck in a traffic jam for a long time, but the third fire tender reached there within 15 minutes after diverting its route,” said Manesar fire station fireman Surinder.

“It took us another 15-20 minutes to completely douse the fire,” he added.

According to school administration around 150 students were in the school when the fire broke out.

“Around 150 students were on campus when the staff noticed the fire. The teaching staff immediately evacuated the campus, and two buses were stopped at the school gate due to the fire,” a senior school administration official told HT adding that all students were safely evacuated and no casualties were reported.

The official added that the non-teaching staff rushed and broke the window panes present in all classrooms to ensure smoke does not accumulate inside the premise of the school.

“Our in-house electrician was present at the school site to oversee the work, and once he noticed the smoke, he immediately cut the school’s main electricity supply to ensure no further damage,” a school official told HT.

The school will remain shut until a proper inspection of the incident is done and precautionary safety measures are taken to avoid such incidents in the future.