Fire at Orion Business Park in Kapurbawdi Sparks Safety Probe

A fire broke out in a first-floor office at the Orion Business Park in Kapurbawdi, located along the Ghodbunder Highway in Thane, on Sunday morning. The incident, which occurred inside units 103-105 of the ground-plus-five-storeyed commercial building, triggered panic in the nearby area. Fortunately, no injuries were reported as a result of the blaze.

The fire was first spotted by the building's security staff after heavy smoke started billowing out of the affected office premises. According to fire officials, the building's automated fire alarm system probably failed to operate during the emergency, preventing an earlier warning.

Upon being alerted, rescue teams and the Thane fire brigade arrived at the scene within minutes. The responders managed to successfully douse the blaze after first disconnecting the power supply to the commercial building. Following the extinguishment of the fire, cooling operations were conducted at the site and continued until late Sunday afternoon.

Girish Jhalke, the Chief Fire Officer at the Thane fire brigade, confirmed the details of the incident. Jhalke informed that the Sunday morning fire was restricted to units 103-105 on the first floor of the five-storey commercial structure.

In the wake of the incident, officials announced that they are actively investigating whether the commercial facility failed to install and maintain adequate fire safety measures. The potential malfunction of the fire alarm system has raised serious concerns among the local authorities.

This Sunday incident marks the second time that this commercial unit has been struck by a major fire. In April 2023, the Orion Business Park witnessed a massive blaze that took over 16 hours to fully extinguish. That previous operation was highly complex and required combined firefighting teams from both the Thane fire brigade and the Mumbai fire brigade to successfully douse the flames.