Gulzar Houz fire: As angry residents quiz firefighting effort, officials deny water shortage claim

Police officials outside the building near Gulzar Houz that caught fire in the Old City area of Hyderabad in Telangana, on May 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit: G. Ramakrishna

Some residents and family members of the victims of the Gulzar Houz fire alleged that the first fire tenders arrived with little water, delaying rescue operations. The claim surfaced repeatedly during the chaos and again when Ministers visited the Modi family at the Osmania General Hospital morgue, prompting officials to promise an inquiry into the matter.

However, the Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services department dismissed the allegation.

Director General Y. Nagi Reddy clarified that each fire tender, as per national standards, carries 4,500 litres of water. “We also deployed bowsers (water tankers) for backup. A tender cannot carry unlimited water—it’s standard practice to send bowsers or refill the tenders at the station,” he explained. He added that each tender has a pump capacity of 2,800 litres per minute. “At full throttle, water can run out in under two minutes. That’s why our teams assess the fire and use water judiciously, based on technical experience and the situation on the ground,” Reddy said.

In the Gulzar Houz fire operation, a total of 11 vehicles, including water tenders, rescue tenders, and bowsers, were pressed into service alongside a Bronto Skylift hydraulic platform. Although an advanced firefighting robot was on standby, it was ultimately not used. Seventeen officers and 70 personnel were involved in the operation, which lasted nearly two hours.

“It was a high-risk operation,” an officer on the ground said. “We had to balance firefighting and rescue amid extreme heat, dense smoke, and zero visibility.”

Key challenges hampered the operation: the building had only one staircase, less than a metre wide, located centrally and near the suspected seat of the fire. As flames engulfed the lower floor, smoke and heat rapidly filled the stairwell—effectively cutting off the only route to the upper floors. There were no alternative exits, and no external windows or openings to deploy the hydraulic platform for quick ventilation or access.