Woman, 35, and girl, 13, burnt in Andheri kitchen flash fire from LPG cylinder valve

A fire broke out suddenly in a house in Mumbai's Andheri East on Thursday evening after gas leaked from the valve of an LPG cylinder. A 35-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl were burnt in the incident.

According to the Mumbai Fire Brigade, it received word of the incident at 7:35 pm. The spot is Bombari Chawl, near Khandeshwar Temple in Kajuwadi, Chakala. It is a ground-plus-one structure, and the fire broke out in the kitchen of a room on the ground floor. The fire brigade said the cause was a flash fire from the main valve of the LPG cylinder kept in the kitchen.

The fire remained confined to the kitchen and did not spread to adjoining parts. The main valve of the LPG cylinder, the clothes worn by the two females, a lamp and some other kitchen items were affected. The fire brigade said the affected area was about 3 by 3 square feet.

Firefighters brought the fire under control by 8:04 pm, about 29 minutes after the report of the incident was received.

According to the fire brigade, the 35-year-old woman has burns of about 25 per cent, while the 13-year-old girl has burns of 14 per cent. Both were taken to Cooper Hospital in a police vehicle. According to the information received from the hospital's assistant medical officer at 9:01 pm, both patients have been admitted and their condition is stable.

A Mumbai Fire Brigade team reached the spot on receiving the report. Police, a 108 ambulance and ward staff were also called for relief and rescue work. The fire brigade said only that the cause of the fire was a flash fire from the cylinder's main valve and that the damage was limited to that small part of the kitchen.