Noida High Rise Fire Why Residents Must Maintain Air Conditioners Keep Emergency Exits Obstructionfree

A major fire broke out in a flat on the 12th floor of a high-rise tower in Noida on June 5, adding to a string of recent fire incidents in the National Capital Region.

Hindustan Times quoted Pradeep Kumar, Chief Fire Officer, Gautam Buddh Nagar, as saying that "Due to the presence of firefighting equipment within the building, our vehicles were not required for firefighting operations. Firefighters wearing specialised suits and breathing apparatus entered the affected flats and completely doused the fire. The fire was likely caused by a short circuit in an air conditioner."

The incident comes just hours after the Delhi’s Malviya Nagar hotel fire that claimed 21 lives and barely two weeks after another blaze erupted on the 27th floor of the same housing society, reportedly due to a short circuit in an air-conditioner. It also follows a major fire in a high-rise residential tower in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, on April 29 and another incident that engulfed two luxury apartments in Gurugram's Sector 63A, raising fresh concerns about fire safety in high-rise residential buildings across the NCR.

The recent incidents have heightened concerns about fire safety during the peak summer months, when air conditioners and electrical systems operate under heavy loads, making unobstructed emergency exits even more critical. The incidents have also renewed calls for stricter fire-safety compliance and regular audits of high-rise residential buildings.

Here’s what residents of high-rise complexes should know:

Air conditioners, a common cause of electrical fires, should ideally be serviced before the onset of summer and at least once a year before intensive use. Maintaining a moderate temperature setting of around 24°C is also advisable, as operating units at extremely low temperatures for prolonged periods can increase stress on electrical systems, advises Munish Kumar, founder director of EHS Guru Sustainable Solutions Pvt Ltd.

He stressed that fire extinguishers remain the first line of defence against small fires and should be readily available in common areas of apartment buildings. In the event of a fire in a flat, residents and responders are more likely to access extinguishers in corridors and common areas than those kept in individual apartments, he explains.

Fire safety experts advise residents to use staircases rather than lifts during a fire, as pressurised stairwells are designed to remain relatively smoke-free and provide the safest escape route. They also stress the importance of regularly cleaning kitchen chimneys to prevent oil deposits from igniting and ensuring that fire water systems, including tanks and pumps, remain operational.

Regular fire safety audits, mandated under the National Building Code, can help identify deficiencies in fire-fighting equipment, electrical systems and emergency preparedness. In addition, smoke detectors and sprinkler systems in apartments and common areas should be routinely checked and protected from damage during renovation work, particularly in high-rise buildings where such systems are critical for early detection and response. “Fire safety in residential and commercial buildings begins with preventive maintenance,” according to Kumar.

Kumar highlighted the limitations of conventional fire tenders in tackling high-rise fires. Most conventional hydraulic platforms and aerial ladder trucks used by fire departments can typically reach between 4 and 12 floors, depending on the model and operating conditions. However, for buildings above these floors, external firefighting becomes increasingly difficult. Fire services depend primarily on internal fire-safety infrastructure such as wet risers, hydrant systems, sprinklers, smoke-extraction systems, fireman's lifts and pressurised staircases. These systems are designed to enable firefighters to tackle fires from within the building rather than from outside, he explains.

Emerging technologies such as firefighting drones are also being explored. Equipped with thermal imaging cameras, drones can conduct rapid aerial assessments of upper floors, identify hotspots, locate trapped occupants and monitor fire spread at heights that may be difficult for conventional equipment to reach, explains Kumar. Firefighting teams can use drone feeds to monitor changing conditions and improve firefighter safety during operations. Some advanced drones can carry fire-extinguishing payloads or connect to water-mist systems for limited firefighting operations, he said. However, Kumar cautioned that technology alone cannot compensate for fundamental fire-safety failures. Drones cannot overcome blocked emergency exits, locked staircases, non-functional alarms, inadequate smoke management systems, or poor building maintenance. Factors such as dense smoke, strong winds, extreme heat and battery limitations can also restrict drone operations.

Vandana Ramnani leads the real estate vertical at Hindustan Times Digital, bringing over two decades of journalism experience across real estate, education, human resources, and foreign affairs. She specialises in India’s real estate sector, covering residential and commercial markets in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, with in-depth reporting on regulatory developments, urban policy, housing trends, and interviews with industry leaders. Her work has also appeared in the Hindustan Times newspaper and HT Estates. Earlier, Vandana played a key role in establishing the real estate vertical at Moneycontrol (NW18 Group), shaping its editorial direction and market coverage. She has also written extensively on international education for HT Education, tracking global study destinations, policy changes, and student mobility trends, earning the Singapore Education Award 2009 for Best Media Coverage (Print). Her reporting portfolio includes human resources and employment trends for HT ShineJobs and PowerJobs, as well as lifestyle and interior design features for HT Premium Homes. Vandana began her career with the Press Trust of India, gaining strong editorial and reporting expertise. She was also selected for a prestigious fellowship at Fondation Journalistes en Europe in Paris, where she wrote for EuroMag. One of her notable reporting assignments included covering Germany’s capital relocation from Bonn to Berlin. Outside of journalism, Vandana is a passionate traveller, constantly seeking out charming hideaways across India and the lesser-known, offbeat corners of Southeast Asia.Read More