A fire was reported in a laboratory at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune’s Pashan area Tuesday night. No casualties were reported in the incident as the fire was brought under control within minutes.
Officials from the Pashan station of Pune Municipal Corporation’s fire brigade said the fire was reported at around 9:30 pm inside the room housing the Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) unit of the ‘H-Cross’ physics laboratory of IISER.
“By the time we reached after receiving the call, the authorities had initiated various steps in response to the fire. We brought the fire under control within minutes. The fire had led to an accumulation of a lot of smoke. No casualties were reported because the facility vacated as the fire started,” said an officer from Pashan fire station.
“While a probe will ascertain the cause of the fire, we suspect it could have been caused by a short circuit,” the officer added.
In July 2021, a fire had broken out at an organic chemical storage of a laboratory of IISER. A fireman and an IISER student had sustained minor injuries during the fire-fighting effort.