Kolkata: The fire services department on Sunday said that skyscrapers — like The 42, where a minor fire had broken out on the 53rd floor on Saturday — will get their completion certificate only after they follow every safety rule mentioned by the fire department , police and civic authorities. Fire officials have also notified the promoters of The 42 to immediately install basic firefighting equipment on every level even if the building is still under construction.“Fire in these buildings cannot be fought from outside using ladders. It has to be fought from the inside with an integrated fire-fighting system. We have certain recommendations and stipulations for the type of fire safety equipment these buildings should have. If they do not implement even one recommendation suggested by us or the KMC, the completion certificate will not be issued,” said Jag Mohan, the director general of fire services.Fire officials said a preliminary investigation suggested that a nylon safety net outside the air conditioner ducts caught fire on the 53rd floor around 4.55pm when some welding work was in progress. A service lift outside the building was used to reach the site of the fire when firefighters poured buckets of water on the flames. Because of the height, fire fighters could not fight the blaze from outside as the highest ladder in their possession is 68mhigh and can only reach up to the 21st storey. The firemen on Saturday used the service elevator to reach the spot.On Sunday, TOI visited the building and found that work had been put on hold and the safety net had been pulled down. “Senior cops and officials from the fire department and KMC were at the building till late on Saturday. On Sunday, construction work has been stopped at the site and we have not been told when to resume,” said one of the labourers who was found outside the building on Sunday.TOI had reached out to the promoters of The 42 for their reaction, but they did not issue any statement till late on Sunday.Fire safety experts say compressed aluminium composite panels used on building facades, including The 42, cause flames to spread quickly and turn into a blaze at times. It did so in London’s Grenfell Tower in June 2017 and left 72 people dead. While highrises are designed to contain the fire on the floor it occurs, the decorative cladding allows the flames to spread to other floors.Since it is almost impossible to access a fire above 65m from outside, conventional methods of tackling a blaze, like training a water hose through a window, do not work in skyscrapers. Instead, firemen have to actually reach the seat of the fire and fight it. While stairwells are supposed to have fire- and smoke-proof doors, some skyscrapers are also equipped with chutes and special fire elevators to help evacuation in case of exigencies. Water tanks on roofs could be attached to tubing around the perimeter of the roof, and remotely operable valves could then be used by ground staff to release water in curtains down a side of the building. Firefighting kits can also be transported to higher levels by mounting them on movable platforms provided for window cleaning. External sprinkler tubes could be connected to the water supply. Even if sub-optimal, these methods would buy a little time, said experts.At The 42, there are service floors at the 20th and 40th level, with pumps to push the water up. Wet risers are essential as the pumping pressure required to charge the riser is a lot higher than what a fire tender is capable of providing.Former fire services ADG D Biswas said firefighting must be integral to designing skyscrapers. “The building has to be designed like compartments to prevent a fire from spreading vertically or horizontally. There should be a provision to seal all shafts automatically when a fire alarm is triggered. In case of a stairwell, it should have 4-hour fire rating with doors that have 2-hour fire rating on all landings,” he explained.Even during construction, tall buildings are require to make provision for water barrels, fire extinguishers and sand buckets on each floor to douse flames in case of a fire.

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