Dialysis unit destroyed in major blaze at Hospicio

the goan I network

MARGAO  

A major fire broke out on Friday evening on the second floor of the Hospicio annex building, housing the dialysis unit, completely gutting the room which was used to the store dialysis machines and stock, worth lakhs of rupees.   

Fortunately, the fire occurred after 5 pm, minutes after a couple of patients had left the centre after   undergoing dialysis and the lone attendant had locked the main dialysis room. After he spotted the fire, the attendant tried to extinguish it with water..

Anita Telgari, the dialysis technician told the media that the unit had received new stock worth Rs 25 lakh, which was being stored in the store room. “There were around five dialysis machines which were all kept in the store room, each of the machines cost around Rs 10 lakh. The dialysis stock worth Rs 25 lakh was also stored in the same store room”, she said. While the main unit housing dialysis machines was not affected by fire, it remains to be seen whether these machines are in working condition or not.   

On an average, around 12-13 patients undergo dialysis at the Hospicio unit. The owner also runs another dialysis unit at Canacona.   

A fire team headed by Margao Fire Officer Gill De Souza managed to bring the fire under control in an operation lasting around 50 minutes by using two fire tenders. The fire fighting operation was hampered as thick black fumes and smokes billowed inside the building and outside and only personnel using masks and handkerchiefs could enter the spot of the fire.  

Divisional Officer Nitin Raikar said that two fire tenders were used to bring the fire under control, while saying that the Margao fire brigade had requisitioned the fire tenders from neighbouring fire stations. Fire officer Gill told The Goan that the firemen moved quickly in the building and managed to contain the fire and ensure it did not spread to the adjoining rooms. “It took us around 50 minutes to completely put off the fire. The damage and destruction of property is being ascertained. We will wait for the dialysis owner to submit details concerning the property damaged in the fire and the estimated loss”, Gill said.  

The raging fire in the Hospicio hospital gave some anxious moments initially given that the hospital plays host to hundreds of in-house patients. The authorities as well as the people heaved a sigh of relief after realization dawned that the fire broke out in the annex building, which only housed the dialysis centre and that there were no patients in the dialysis unit at the time of the incident.  

The traffic police also rose to the occasion, with DySP Prabodh Shirwaikar and PI Mohan Gawde along with his team of personnel regulated the traffic along the Hospicio road, even as the hospital security shut the entrance to the hospital to facilitate smooth entry for the fire tenders.  

Congress MLAs Luizinho Faleiro and Reginaldo Lourenco were amongst the leaders who visited the hospital to take stock of the situation.