More than a dozen residents of the Sunrise Point housing complex in New Town’s Action Area II had to be evacuated after smoke started billowing out of the eighth floor of a 14-storey building on Thursday evening, police said.

Officials in the fire services department said a preliminary probe suggested that the fire was caused by a short circuit.

Security personnel and residents of the housing complex, who spotted dense black smoke billowing out of an electrical duct and several windows on the eighth floor of the building, alerted the New Town fire station.

Guards and those on the housekeeping staff rushed upstairs and brought several residents down through the staircase, Gobindo Biswas, one of the residents, said.

The building’s power supply was snapped as a safety measure. The guards, residents and housekeeping staff tried to douse the flames using portable fire extinguishers.

“There was a lot of smoke. We managed to evacuate several residents. One
woman complained of breathlessness because of smoke inhalation. We took her to a private hospital nearby. She is back home,” Biswas said.

At least six fire tenders were sent to the housing complex, not far from the intersection called Akankha More, an official in the fire and emergency services department said. The fire was controlled within 45 minutes of it being reported.

“We traced the fire to a duct through which electrical wires pass. A preliminary probe has hinted at a short circuit as the cause of the fire. We used chemical fire extinguishers designed to combat electrical fires. Water was sprayed to cool down portions of the building so the fire did not spread,” the official said.

According to the official, at least four floors — eight, ninth, 10th and 11th — were partially affected. The walls around the duct have turned black.

The housing complex has seven towers. While six towers have 14 storeys, one has eight floors.

A member of the residents’ welfare association (RWA) of Sunrise Point said power could not be restored to the affected tower till late on Thursday as the main wiring line was affected.

“We will carry out an internal audit of the building’s wiring system,” the member said. “The building’s smoke alarms and water sprinklers had activated in time.”

A fire department official said a probe has been started.