Kolkata Lions Range Fire: Third Floor of Century-Old Office Building Behind Writers’ Buildings Gutted, No Casualties; Cause Under Investigation

What happened

Late on Sunday night, 1 November 2026, a fire broke out in a multi-storey commercial building at Lions Range in central Kolkata, right behind Writers’ Buildings, the old state secretariat. Locals saw flames and thick black smoke coming out of the upper floors and called the fire brigade (PTI, carried by Millennium Post and Urban Acres). At least 10 fire engines were sent. The Times of India reports that two security guards were the first to notice the flames and that firefighting began around 1 am. By about 10 am on Monday the fire was said to be under control and kept from spreading to the neighbouring buildings, but pocket fires kept flaring inside, and the cooling work went on till late Monday evening. No injury or death was reported. The offices were shut for the Sunday holiday. Checked on 3 November 2026; the latest report we could open was published at 11.22 pm on 2 November.

The Times of India says the third floor was badly damaged, that four offices there were hit the hardest, and that a computer hardware firm and an office that was about to open were among them. Computers, office equipment and stacked cartons were destroyed. Fire officers told the paper that this much stored material helped the fire spread fast and gave off thick black smoke. Smoke on the staircases made it hard for firemen to go in, so they used an adjoining building to operate a hydraulic platform. The officers read the black smoke turning white at the third-floor windows as a sign that they had reached the main seat of the fire.

Where the reports agree, and where they do not

• Casualties: none, in every report we opened (Times of India, PTI, Hindusthan Samachar, Urban Acres).
• Name of the building and the road: PTI, Hindusthan Samachar and Urban Acres write Lions Range; the Times of India spells it Lyons Range and says the building stands next to the Calcutta Stock Exchange. It is the same place in every report. We write Lions Range, as the wire does.
• Which floor: the Times of India says the third floor; Hindusthan Samachar says the fourth floor of a five-storey building; PTI says only the upper floors. We say the upper floors and give the third-floor damage as the Times of India’s report.
• Time: late Sunday night in all reports. The Times of India says firefighting started from about 1 am. One photo caption in its report says the fire broke out around Monday midnight. We do not claim a minute.
• How long it lasted: under control by about 10 am Monday; firefighting continued till late Monday evening because of pocket fires (Times of India). PTI’s earlier report, published at 12.30 pm on Monday, said the cooling process was still on.
• Age of the building: a former councillor told the Times of India it is nearly 100 years old, and the paper calls it century-old. We have no municipal record to confirm the age.

What a local leader said about fire arrangements

Santosh Pathak, a former councillor, visited the site. He said the building is very old and, in his words, has no firefighting arrangements in place, that the fire might have involved computer equipment, and that because it was a Sunday the offices were shut with windows and openings closed, so the fire spread inside. He added that if proper systems had been in place and people had been aware, the fire might not have spread so much (Times of India, Urban Acres). These are his views. We have not seen the fire department confirm or deny that the building lacked a fire-fighting system, and the cause is not established. West Bengal’s fire services minister also visited the spot, according to the Times of India.

What is not known

• What started the fire. Officials say the cause is being investigated; fire officers believe it began in the third-floor offices (Times of India).
• Whether the building had a valid fire safety certificate, working alarms, hydrants or sprinklers. None of the reports says so either way, apart from the former councillor’s remark.
• How much was lost, in rupees, and whether any documents or data were destroyed.
• Whether any official inquiry or action against the owners has been announced.

Why a fire in a shut office building matters

Nobody was hurt because it was a Sunday night. On a working day, the same floor would have had people at their desks. A fire that starts in a closed office with its windows shut can burn unseen for a long time, and by the time passers-by notice smoke it is already big. This one also stood a short distance from Writers’ Buildings, which, as PTI notes, still houses government departments, and the Times of India says engines were sent to stop the flames reaching heritage buildings nearby. Old commercial buildings in the heart of the city usually have narrow lanes, one common staircase and rooms packed with paper, cartons and electronics. You can read how such buildings fared in Kolkata earlier: the Mirza Ghalib Street hotel fire, the Rituraj hotel fire in Burrabazar, and, in the same city, the Biswa Bangla Gate restaurant fire. Our Kolkata safety guide lists the city’s emergency numbers and fire stations.

What office owners and staff can do

These are general practices, not a finding about Lions Range.

• Know the exits. Walk the way out of your floor, with the lights off in your mind: where the staircase is, whether it is clear, and whether the door is ever locked. See our guide to an evacuation plan that works.
• Keep paper and cartons away from stairs and electrical panels. Stacked cartons and computers burn fast and give off thick smoke, which is what firemen described here.
• Switch off and unplug at closing time what does not need to run overnight, especially chargers, extension boards and old computer equipment.
• Check that extinguishers, alarms and hydrants actually work, and that the fire safety certificate is current. Our guides on how a fire NOC works and where it fails and on why hydrant systems fail explain what to ask for.
• Call 101 or 112 early if you see smoke from a building, even at night or on a holiday; do not wait to be sure. Do not go inside.
• Do a drill that includes the night watchman or security guard, who is often the first person to see smoke. More on this in our workplace fire safety guide.