How to Survive a Lift Fire or Power Failure

1. Why You Must Know This
High-rises are India’s urban future — but lifts are often used even during fires. In the Delhi Anaj Mandi fire (2019), at least 43 people died in a crowded building with just one narrow entrance; most were overcome by smoke and toxic gas before they could get out. In a fire a lift can stop at the floor where the fire is, or stop working altogether, which is why the fire services tell everyone to use the stairs and never the lift.

2. Step-by-Step Survival During Lift Fire/Failure

• If fire breaks out in building:
  • Never use lifts. Always take stairs.
  • Lifts may lose power or stop at fire-affected floors.
• If stuck in lift due to failure:
  • Stay calm and stay inside the lift car.
  • Press emergency button, call security using intercom/phone.
  • Signal by banging doors or shouting at intervals.
  • If smoke starts coming into the lift, stay low, cover your nose and mouth with a cloth, and keep telling security or the fire brigade (101 or 112) exactly which lift and floor you are on. Get out as soon as rescuers open the doors at a landing.
  • Do not try to force doors open between floors.

If the lift stops between floors

A lift can stop because the power has gone, because a safety device has tripped, or because of a fault. Whatever the reason, the safest thing is almost always to stay where you are. The Hong Kong government’s guidelines for lift users say not to panic, not to try to open the lift door yourself, to press the alarm button at once, and to keep calm and wait for rescue. We found no Indian official page written for lift passengers, so the steps below follow the Hong Kong guidelines and a public page from the lift maker Otis; the numbers are Indian. Checked 5 November 2026.

• Stay calm and stay inside. Do not kick or hit the door, do not lean on it, and do not climb out through the hatch on the roof of the car. The Hong Kong guidelines say not to force the lift door open and not to force the emergency exit on top of the car. Otis says passengers should not leave the car until a trained technician or the fire brigade has cleared it.
• Press the alarm or intercom button and keep your phone in your hand. The Hong Kong guidelines say to press the alarm button immediately, keep calm and wait for rescue.
• Say exactly where you are. Tell security or the lift company the building name, which lift it is, the floor shown on the display, how many people are inside and whether a child, an older person or anyone unwell is with you. Otis also asks callers to leave a contact number. Our suggestion: an RWA can stick the building address and a lift number inside each car, so that a frightened person can simply read it out.
• Call 112 or 101 if there is smoke, a burning smell, or someone is unwell. 101 is the fire brigade, and the Delhi Fire Service says it is free whatever the size of the fire. 112 is the single emergency number (PIB) and 108 is the ambulance number (PIB, June 2026).
• You will not run out of air. Otis says a lift car has air circulation openings and that there is no limit on the air available inside. That is a lift maker’s statement on a US page, not an Indian rule, but it is a reason to wait calmly.
• You may press the door-open button once. Otis says the door may open if the car is level with a floor. If it opens at a gap, or the car and the floor are out of line, do not step out; wait. That last part is our suggestion, in line with the advice not to leave until rescuers arrive.
• A sudden stop is not a fall. A jolt can feel like a drop. Hong Kong’s lift regulator has a video on why passengers mistake an abrupt stop for a plunge. We did not watch it in full, and it does not make any particular lift safe, but it is no reason to panic.
• Wait for trained help. Only a lift technician or the fire brigade should open the door; the unlocking device on the landing door is for trained people (Otis).

If you are outside and someone is stuck, do not try to open the lift door or the landing door. Call the lift company or the building’s security, tell the person inside that help is on the way, and call 112 if there is smoke, a medical problem or panic. Otis warns that bystanders should not try any rescue of their own.

A lift, a fire and the stairs

The Goa Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services says never to use an elevator in a fire emergency, because it might stop at the fire floor or malfunction, and always to use the stairs. The Delhi Fire Service says not to use the lift as a means of escape. Our case study of the South City Tower 3 fire in Kolkata on 30 October 2026 records reports that power to the building was cut as a precaution and the lifts stopped, so everyone, including children and older people, had to take the stairs.

Some tall buildings have a special lift that firefighters control. That is not the lift you use every day. Unless the fire officers tell you otherwise, treat every lift as off limits while there is a fire.

If someone cannot use stairs, we found no official Indian page for wheelchair users, older people or anyone else who cannot walk down. Our suggestion: do not put them in a lift. Call 101 or 112, say which floor they are on and where, and tell the fire officers as soon as they arrive. Building managers and RWAs should work this out in advance with the residents who need it.

In a fire: do and do not

Do

• Take the stairs, even if it is only one floor.
• Walk, do not run; the Delhi Fire Service says running and shouting cause panic.
• Close the flat door behind you and tell neighbours on the way.
• Call 101 or 112 from outside and give the tower, the floor and the flat.

Do not

• Do not step into a lift when the fire alarm sounds, and do not wait for one.
• Do not force a lift door, kick it, or climb out through the roof hatch.
• Do not let a bystander try to open the door of a stuck lift.
• Do not go back up for belongings.

Numbers to save: 101 for the fire brigade, 112 for any emergency, 108 for an ambulance. Our pages on the fire brigade number and what to say and on emergency numbers in India explain which to use when.

3. Visual Diagram Suggestion
❌ Lift, ✅ stairs as escape.

4. Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Using lift as shortcut during fire evacuation.
❌ Forcing open doors between floors — fatal falls happen.
❌ Staying put, or going back for belongings, when the fire alarm sounds. Get out by the stairs, keep low under smoke and call 101 or 112.

5. Where Should This Be Practiced?
Every high-rise RWA should conduct evacuation drills highlighting “Stairs Only During Fire.”

6. What You Can Do Today
✔ Learn location of staircases in your building.
✔ Carry a torch and whistle on keychains.
✔ Ask management if lifts have fire-rated doors and emergency power.
✔ Save 101, 112 and 108 in your phone, and the lift helpline number of your building.

7. Related Case
Delhi Anaj Mandi fire (2019): at least 43 people died, 39 of them from asphyxiation, according to the NHRC. Many were workers sleeping in a building with just one narrow entrance. The NHRC account does not mention lifts, but the lesson carries over — smoke spreads faster than people expect, and every building needs more than one usable way out.

8. Final Words
“Lifts are convenience machines, not escape routes. In a fire — trust your legs, not the lift.”