Chennai, Oct 16 A section of Secretariat staff briefly panicked on Friday when the fire alarm system blared loud emergency warning sirens after a camphor was lit during a festive prayer in connection with Ayudha Puja on Monday.
The staff who lit the camphor and others who participated in the puja in the decorated office were perplexed when the fire alarm sounded all of a sudden.
According to sources, the high-sensitivity automated smoke sensors installed in the archives wing where the camphor was lit detected the resulting dense smoke and immediately activated the building’s emergency sirens, making the fire and rescue service personnel present at the Secretariat to rush to the wing.
As several employees rushed out of their offices fearing a major structural fire following the unexpected fire alarm, the fire and rescue service personnel quickly arrived at the spot and restored normalcy by resetting the system. The incident left the staff visibly shaken for a brief period, shattering their festive mood.
Ayudha Puja falls on October 19 and being a public holiday, the staff decorated the office with flowers, sandal paste, and lighted incense sticks on Friday evening. Camphor, placed on a pumpkin, was lit as part of the festive prayer seeking divine blessings, and taken around the office.
The dense, localised smoke rising from the burning camphor drifted upward into the high-sensitivity automated smoke sensors installed in the archives section. The system interpreted the smoke as an active building fire and automatically triggered the loud emergency warning sirens across the wing, sources said.
(PTI News)
