Laxmi Road Bank of India Fire: AC Sparks Blaze, Three Offices Suffer Extensive Damage
Pune, 29th September 2026: Three offices on the sixth floor of the Bank of India building at Shagun Chowk on Laxmi Road suffered extensive damage after a fire broke out on Tuesday morning. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Fire Brigade brought the blaze under control within about an hour, with no injuries or fatalities reported.
The fire brigade received the alert at around 10:11 a.m. and deployed four fire tenders and three water tankers from the Central, Kasba, Erandwane, Naidu and Kondhwa fire stations.
According to the Fire Brigade, a security guard at the premises reported that an air conditioner in an office on the sixth floor had caught fire. The guard initially tried to extinguish the flames using a fire extinguisher. However, when the fire could not be controlled, the Fire Brigade was alerted.
Firefighters faced the challenge of operating in the crowded Laxmi Road area, with several buildings surrounding the premises. They used hose pipes, breathing apparatus (BA) sets, ropes and exhaust blowers to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading.
The building is an RCC structure comprising a lower ground floor, ground floor and six upper floors. The approximately 8,048-square-foot hall on the sixth floor had been divided into four offices using plywood partitions, including a battery backup room.
The fire caused extensive damage in three offices, affecting computers, tables, chairs, air conditioners, electrical wiring, batteries, printers, photocopy machines and other equipment.
Nearly 30 fire brigade personnel were involved in the operation, which was conducted under the leadership of Chief Fire Officer Ganesh Sonune.
Fire Officers Pankaj Jagtap, Kamlesh Chaudhary and Nilesh Mahajan, along with firefighters including Azim Sheikh, Dilip Ghadshi, Chandrakant Anandas, Santosh Aragade, Kailas Pawar, Vishal Gaikwad, Chandrakant Navale and Suresh Pawar, participated in the firefighting operation.
“The fire incident at the Bank of India was serious. Officers and firefighters made strenuous efforts using advanced equipment in a crowded area like Laxmi Road and brought the fire under control without allowing it to spread to other areas, thereby preventing further damage,” Sonune said.
The Fire Brigade said no permanent fire-fighting installation was found at the premises. However, fire extinguishers, a fire alarm system and a fire detection system were available.
Officials from the PMC Disaster Management Department, Building Department, Pune Police and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) were also present at the site.
The incident comes amid increased fire-safety inspections across Pune following directions from PMC Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram.
Over the past week, the Fire Brigade inspected 414 establishments, including hotels, paying guest accommodations, coaching classes and hospitals, and issued notices to establishments found not complying with fire-safety requirements.
