Ministry of Defence probes the fire incident

BENGALURU: As the investigation which was conducted by the ministry of defence (MoD), had suggested that, the fire at the Yelahanka Airforce Station was maybe due to an overheated-silencer of one of the cars. As winds were travelling at 30 mph it had helped the fire spread.

On Sunday the defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman,read q statement of the MoD, “She has directed officials to ensure that RTO help desks have representatives from insurance companies to facilitate claims.” It said that 278 cars were completely damaged, while 73 were partially damaged.

A spokesperson of MoD had said that, “The probable cause stated was fire starting from an overheated silencer of one of the cars parked in the parking area. Accentuated by strong winds, the fire spread quickly.”

As for the insurance, sources have said many insurances have been taken. “For the aircraft, HAL and IAF took out policies, while all the building and enclosures were insured by a private firm to whom services like erecting hangars and supplying manpower was outsourced,” an official said.

“The operational control centre (OCC) commander along with state fire department pressed 13 fire tenders, seven water bowsers and 33 Agni Varuna vehicles into action to douse the fire. Additionally, six crash fire tenders (CFT) of IAF, which is used in case of an aircraft crash, was used to control the spread of fire, which was doused within 45 minutes. More than 3,000 litres of foam was used. Vehicles in the line of fire were pushed to safety by breaking glass windows and releasing the parking brakes as drivers were not present. This created a gap between vehicles and helped prevent the fire from spreading,” the MoD said.