Quatrro manager solves fire mystery
By Mahesh PV

There was a lot of speculation as to the cause of the fire at Quatrro offices in Gurgaon in May this year. Though there was no casualty, the company did lose some assets to fire. Rakesh Sharma (EVP - Corporate Affairs & Infrastructure Services, Quatrro BPO), a man from the defence services, is the last one to give up or give easy.

Rakesh was quietly determined to find out what went wrong. So he had people from the local Police, CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) and Fire Services experts all together in a series of meeting. What helped is that they started looking at footage from CCTV and interviewed many people who they felt, may have seen something. Sabotage was not excluded as an option either.

They started looking at a detailed list of ‘causes-of-fire’ while the forensics people analysed scientific evidence. What came out was very clear evidence. All causes on the list were struck out before nailing the real one. Later, scientific evidence was found, with a possible witness.

The cause of fire was a smouldering cigarette butt thrown into a few under-repair chairs with foam seats. Apparently someone with a smoking habit could not resist the urge and went to an area where work was under progress. It is important to state that the building is a strict no-smoking area. When the person (smoking) felt that someone was approaching, the butt was thrown carelessly away which resulted in a fire.

(By arrangement with BPO News)

(Techgoss had run the following story on May 5, 2008)

BPO Father Raman Roy in fire scare
By Rajiv Kumar

Fire swept through the offices of one of the most respected CEO’s and founding fathers of Indian BPO’s, Raman Roy.  Scores of computers and other office equipment worth lakhs of rupees were reduced to ashes when three floors of corporate offices and the main facility of Raman Roy’s Quatrro BPO Solutions in Gurgaon caught fire.

According to officials of the Fire Department, the fire that had broken out at the fifth floor of the building in the wee hours and gone unnoticed, had engulfed the sixth and seventh floor before it was extinguished in a daring two-hour operation.
 
Over heating of the computers and other equipment such as air conditioners which were left running by the office staff may have resulted in a short circuit in the electricity wiring, the fire department officials said. More than four fire tenders supported by the hi-rise hydraulic platform (turn-table) took about two hours to douse out the fire.
 
Fortunately, since none of the staff were present in the office, there were no casualties.
 
As the security guards of the multi-storied Quatrro BPO Solutions noticed the fire on April 30, they informed the fire department at about 5.10 am.
 
According to the fire department officials, the guards did not notice the fire that had probably broken out much earlier on the fifth floor in the wee hours of the day because of the double glass cover of the building. However, when the fire turned fierce and engulfed the sixth and seventh floor and some of the glass fell on the ground, that the guards noticed the raging fire and informed fire department.
 
It was for the first time that the fire department used the hi-rise hydraulic platform (turn-table) in any hi-rise fire fighting operation. This equipment was imported at a cost of Rs. nine crore for fire fighting in hi-rise apartments and complexes by the government early this year, but was not used in any operation.
 
According to the fire officers the hydraulic platform proved very effective in the Quatrro incident as entry to the fire-struck floors from inside the building had become impossible due to the searing heat. It was only due to this platform that the firemen could reach the burning floors directly, the officials said.

According to an office insider, Mr. Nice Guy Raman Roy was more concerned about his staff and clients than his own losses.