Most damage to 7th, 8th floors; documents reduced to ashes: Firefighters’ accounts

The heat from the fire was so intense that the building's walls turned black, fire extinguishers exploded, and glass shattered into pieces. This is how firefighters described the scene of the Secretariat fire, which burned for nearly 10 hours starting early Thursday.

This correspondent was not allowed to visit the site, but he managed to record statements from firefighters. Requesting anonymity, firefighters showed photos of the scene to illustrate the extreme heat produced after the fire ignited around 1.52am. 

"The cement layers were falling off the walls, and it felt like an earthquake had shaken the entire building," said one firefighter.

The seventh and eighth floors of Building-7 at the Secretariat – which house the road transport and bridges ministry, the post and telecommunication ministry, and the youth and sports ministry – were left in ruins, he said.

Most of the offices and rooms on these two floors were ravaged by the fire. Documents and files were reduced to ashes, furniture was charred and plywood boards were bent from the intense heat, the firefighter reported.

"The doors were padlocked, and there were no windows to break into those rooms. This made it difficult to access the rooms and douse the fire," said another firefighter.

"Initially, the fire broke out in the middle section of the building. However, it quickly spread sporadically to the eastern and western sides. Every fire incident has four stages: ignition, growth, full development and extinguishment. By the time we arrived, the fire had already reached the developed stage, and it escalated to full development within a very short span of time. That is unusual," he said.

"It was not a chemical factory, yet the fire extinguishers exploded due to the intense heat. The gravity of the fire was extraordinary and unexpected. We experienced repeated glass explosions on the west of the building," the firefighter added.

Meanwhile, when asked about the investigation, officials from Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Ramna Division declined to comment, apart from citing the formation of a probe committee. 

"We are closely monitoring the situation and taking every step cautiously, but we cannot disclose anything until the probe body makes its findings public," said an additional deputy commissioner involved in the police investigation.

The eight-member committee has begun investigating the cause of the fire. On Friday, they commenced their activities within the cordoned-off Building 7. Senior officials from intelligence and law enforcement agencies are also actively involved in the search.

A security official told TBS, "No vehicles are being allowed inside the Secretariat. Even high-ranking government officials must park their cars outside the main entrance and proceed on foot."

"To determine the cause of the fire, expert teams from the CID, RAB and police have been visiting the site to gather evidence. It is also reported that an expert team from the army is assisting them," he added.