Hyderabad: The first call for help from Gulzar Houz came only 40 minutes after the fire started on May 18, thus delaying the rescue operation, claimed Y Nagi Reddy, director general, Telangana fire services, on Wednesday. According to him, members of Prahlad Modi’s family initially tried to douse the fire themselves and dialled 101 only when the situation got out of hand and the entire ground floor was ablaze.The inferno killed 17 members of the family, including eight children. But even as the DG claimed that the findings were based on investigation by experts and interrogation of eyewitnesses, family members denied the claims.“The fire started after 5 am. Family members used water buckets and domestic pipes to try and put it out. It continued for 40 minutes. Then at 6.16 am, two women from the family exited the building to alert nearby residents about the situation. Those people, in turn, contacted the fire brigade,” said Nagi Reddy, yet again refuting allegations about a delay in fire tenders reaching the site. He maintained that the dept responded promptly to a call at 6.16 am, with the first fire engine arriving in four minutes from Moghalpura fire station, located 1.5 km from the incident site. Family members maintained that the allegations were baseless. “We alerted them as soon as the fire started. Their response was inadequate as they arrived without sufficient equipment for firefighting. The necessary apparatus was brought to the scene only after 7.30 am,” maintained Vinod Kumar, husband of Ranjini Agarwal who died in the incident. Rajini was one of Prahlad Modi’s daughters and lived in Sanathnagar. Fire officials also claimed that all the 17 victims were pulled out from the same room on the first floor. “Initially, three family members attempted to extinguish the flames on the ground floor while others were on the first-floor corridor. As the fire turned severe and smoke reached the upper floors, the 17 family members confined themselves to a single room. They succumbed to asphyxiation, with some sustaining minor burns,” said B Harinath Reddy, regional fire officer, Hyderabad.Officials said that the intense flames also proved to be a challenge for rescuers as it prevented direct entry into the building. “The fire personnel had to take up a 15-minute drilling operation through the wall to gain access from an alternative side,” said Nagi Reddy.