A fire broke out in a commercial complex on Second Line Beach Road, Parry's, around 10am on Friday .No casualties were reported.
TN fire and rescue services (TNFRS) personnel and fire tenders were pressed into service from Esplanade. With water lorries, the firemen battled the blaze for three hours before putting it out.
The four-storey building, Dass India Towers, housed the offices of various banks including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank and Yes Bank.
Employees who saw flames and smoke used ladders to exit the building through windows. Materials stored in the basement were gutted, sources said.
"We doused the fire and used a skylift to evacuate those stranded," TNFRS joint director northern region M Shahul Hameed said.
They saw some employees of a private bank on the first floor of the building and broke open the windows to resue the trapped people with ladders and ropes.
People in the neighbourhood helped firemen in the rescue. Fire officials initially assumed that the fire originated on the third floor from where thick smoke emanated. Firemen found that a back-up power generator on the ground floor had triggered the blaze.
"Many of the people in the building could not run to safety because of the smoke. Instead, people on the second floor moved to the third," a fire officer said.
A 54m Bronto Sky Lift was deployed to evacuate people.
"We provided them safety gear, including breathing devices," Hameed said. Smoke continued to emanate from the building, but fire officers declared it safe at 4pm.
TN fire and rescue services (TNFRS) personnel and fire tenders were pressed into service from Esplanade. With water lorries, the firemen battled the blaze for three hours before putting it out.
The four-storey building, Dass India Towers, housed the offices of various banks including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank and Yes Bank.
Employees who saw flames and smoke used ladders to exit the building through windows. Materials stored in the basement were gutted, sources said.
"We doused the fire and used a skylift to evacuate those stranded," TNFRS joint director northern region M Shahul Hameed said.
They saw some employees of a private bank on the first floor of the building and broke open the windows to resue the trapped people with ladders and ropes.
People in the neighbourhood helped firemen in the rescue. Fire officials initially assumed that the fire originated on the third floor from where thick smoke emanated. Firemen found that a back-up power generator on the ground floor had triggered the blaze.
"Many of the people in the building could not run to safety because of the smoke. Instead, people on the second floor moved to the third," a fire officer said.
A 54m Bronto Sky Lift was deployed to evacuate people.
"We provided them safety gear, including breathing devices," Hameed said. Smoke continued to emanate from the building, but fire officers declared it safe at 4pm.